The Dark Side
by Miyopiyo
Summary: A Halloween Special! Happosai's plan for revenge goes wrong, and the Tendo's end up with TWO Ranma's! With one Ranma committing evil deeds and the other self-inflicting pain trying to stop him, what is Akane to do when the former comes after her next?
1. Prologue

**Summary: **A Halloween Special! Happosai's plan for revenge goes wrong, and the Tendo's end up with TWO Ranma's! With one Ranma committing evil deeds and the other self-inflicting pain trying to stop him, what is Akane to do when the former comes after her next?  
**Rating:** T  
**Prologue**

* * *

Sunday, October 25th. 7:30 P.M.

A cold, dreary night descended upon Japan as the sun fell behind the mountains. In the district of Nerima, many families were preparing for a special event that was to take place six days.

An old man sat alone in his room, stirring a greenish concoction in a small bowl, muttering to himself as he did so.

"That fool," he said to himself. "I'll teach that boy for destroying all of my beautiful lingerie…" He fell into silence and continued stirring, not realizing that someone was outside his door having a close look inside.

The shadowed figure was tall and slender, but the face could not be distinguished. With a disapproving grunt, the stranger caressed a long package and slowly, quietly closed the door to the old mans room and snuck back to the dining room. With a flick of a finger, light quickly graced the room.

"Ah!" Two women screamed loudly before slapping their hands over their mouths.

"Auntie Saotome!"

"Kasumi!"

Both women took several moments to gasp until finally, Nodoka composed herself and placed a hand on the younger girls shoulder.

"You gave me quite a scare, dear," Nodoka said, retracting her hand to rest over her wildly beating heart.

Kasumi blushed and bowed lowly. "I'm sorry, auntie!"

Nodoka chuckled to herself and quickly led the girl to sit down.

"What are you doing up so late?" Nodoka asked, fingering her sheathed katana. Kasumi blushed.

"I forgot to put away some dinner. I left it out to cool before putting it in the fridge."

Nodoka smiled. "No need. I came down for a drink and did it myself."

A long silence followed after Kasumi's gracious thanks. Nodoka lightly pulled her sword out of its sheath and gently fingered its razor sharp edge, being extra careful not to cut herself. Kasumi watched cautiously, prepared to jump for a band-aid if she saw a drop of blood.

"Actually, dear," Nodoka started, sighing loudly. "I knew that Master Happosai would be up to something after Ranma destroyed all of his lingerie…Even though it was a complete accident that my son lit it all on fire after Happosai doused him in cold water…"

Kasumi gave a light, almost skeptical cough. "Yes…it was certainly a blow to his pride, wasn't it?"

Nodoka laughed. "And Happosai did it right when poor Ranma was changing his clothes! It doesn't help that my foolish husband poured hot water on him when he was busy chasing the old man…and _right_ in front of Akane, too!"

Both women enjoyed a quiet laugh as they recalled the looks and the two fiancees' faces.

"Anyway, dear," said Nodoka, who was slightly red in the face. "I'm a bit worried about what Happosai is planning…he seemed very angry."

Kasumi looked thoughtful. "Well," she began. "Whenever Ranma makes Grandfather Happosai angry, he usually just does something to make Ranma humiliated in front of his friends and family…"

"Namely, Akane," Nodoka interrupted.

Kasumi nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. Before she could continue, the sound of a sliding door alerted their ears, along with small, light footsteps down the hall. Towards them.

Nodoka clumsily jumped to her feet, pulling up Kasumi as well, who gave a small "Oh!" of surprise. Nodoka quickly turned off the light and crouched just behind the opening of the shogi door that led to the hallway and kitchen. Kasumi peered over her shoulder.

Happosai tiptoed through the hallway and into the kitchen, whistling merrily. He was carrying a small bowl with the greenish liquid that Nodoka had spotted before.

"What's that?" Kasumi whispered, feeling slightly ashamed for spying.

"I think its Master Happosai's device for revenge…"

They both watched as Happosai placed the concoction on the counter and opened the freezer. He popped several large chunks of ice out of its tray and placed it in the bowl, which steamed and began to bubble a bright yellow. Then, he began to rummage through his pockets, obviously searching for something. He pulled out his hands and stared at them in disappointment.

"Oh shoot," Happosai muttered. "I forgot the instructions…"

Kasumi and Nodoka reared back as Happosai ran towards the living room, towards them, then they both let out a sigh of relief as he turned and sprinted up the stairs as fast as his short legs could take him. Both of them merely sat there for several seconds before Nodoka shot up, opened the door quietly and walked into the kitchen. Kasumi followed.

Walking cautiously towards the bowl left abandoned on the counter, both women peered into the steaming liquid and held their breath, afraid to breath the in the toxins.

"I wonder what would happen," Nodoka started, a glint in her eyes, "if we…_toyed_ with Happosai's experiment…?"

Before Kasumi could answer, Nodoka grabbed a multitude of various baking ingredients. Not caring to measure out the substances, she dumped sugar, salt, baking soda, vinegar, vanilla extract and even some starch into the bowl and gently swirled it around by small rotations. Kasumi stood watch nervously and jumped when she heard footsteps.

"I think he's coming back," she said softly. But before either of them could rush out in time, a small "tsk, tsk," sound made them stop in their tracks. They both turned and found Happosai already behind them, staring into the contents of the bowl, which turned a dark blue.

"Now, now, my dears…" Happosai said, a dangerous glint in his eye. "Why don't you tell me what you've done to my potion…?"

Nodoka and Kasumi weren't intimidated. Instead, they both flashed a gently smile in the old man's direction. The evil sparkle in his eyes vanished.

"All we were doing was cleaning up, grandfather," Kasumi said. And it was done.

"Ah…I see…" Happosai said, slightly ashamed of suspecting the two trustworthiest women in Nerima. "Why don't you two head off to bed? It's awfully late, don't you think?"

The women nodded, and after bidding him a goodnight, headed upstairs to their rooms.

Happosai watched them go, his eyes guilty with his previous suspicion. He turned back to his potion and lifted an eyebrow before pulling out his instructions.

"Ah! The potion was supposed to turn _red_ after I added the ice…Silly me, I must've done something wrong…"

But Happosai decided not to worry about it and continued with what he was doing.

oOo

Kasumi and Nodoka walked quickly back to their rooms, taking pre-cautious glances back over their shoulders.

"Nice save, Kasumi, dear!" Nodoka said, laughing lightly. They reached Kasumi's room first. When Kasumi reached to open the door, a hand on her shoulder made her stop.

"Even though he apologized, I think he's going to be more careful from now on. I don't think there's much we can do if he decides to use that potion on Ranma. If anything, I bet he'll do it tonight."

Kasumi nodded. "Don't worry, Auntie Saotome. Grandfather Happosai has done things like this many times before, and Ranma has always found a way around it."

Nodoka smiled and caressed her sword. "Yes…Ranma indeed is a man among men, isn't he?"

Kasumi took a deep breath and opened her door. "Sweet dreams, Auntie," she said softly before lightly shutting the door.

Nodoka stared through the wood for several seconds before she turned and walked the rest of the way back to her own room.

OOo

Happosai sat in the kitchen, stirring his concoction with a long wooden spoon. The liquid had finally turned a dark red, though Happosai had to go through many ingredients to make it so. He was sweating from bouncing around the kitchen for so long.

Pulling out the instructions from his back pocket, Happosai scanned them over quickly, squinting periodically.

"Caution: Put on the gas mask before adding the powdered ginger root," he muttered. "The toxic fumes of the mixture may cause swelling in throat and hives." Happosai adorned the mask and dumped in the powder, his hands clenching in anticipation. He turned back to the instructions and read the next section.

"After several minutes, the fumes will dissipate and the potion should now be a dark gray."

He peered into the bowl and decided that a light purple was good enough. He read the next section.

"Congratulations! You have now completed the Chinese Medicinal Herb with Poison Ivy for your no-good relative and/or friend that does not appreciate you! For instructions on how to apply, see Part Two."

He pulled out Part Two.

"To apply on victim, be sure to wear gloves before touching the medicine. Apply to all areas of skin; avoid eyes, ears, mouth, nostrils, and open wounds. Easy enough," Happosai said before tossing the instructions away.

Grabbing the bowl and a pair of rubber gloves, Happosai bounded up the stairs and towards Ranma's room. He slid the door open, walked in, and closed it gently.

Ranma was snoozing on his back, his mouth wide open. Despite the fact that it was a cool night, he was sleeping with the top half of his pajama shirt unbuttoned and his blanket around his waist.

Thinking that this was too easy, Happosai tiptoed over to the boy's head and kneeled before pulling on the plastic gloves. Then, scooping a huge amount of the light purple potion from the bowl, he slapped it on to Ranma's forehead and smeared it around his face, including his eyes, nostrils and open mouth.

"Ha! This fool deserves it!" Happosai muttered gleefully. Gradually, Happosai rotated around Ranma's body, smearing more of the thick liquid as possible. When he was finished, Ranma looked like nothing more than giant, purple silly putty.

The old man carefully disposed of the evidence and washed the bowl thoroughly before finally heading up to bed, a grin plastered to his face.

"This 'ought a show him!"

The clock rang at 12 midnight.

* * *

Chapter One; Finished! Chapter two is coming tomorrow. I'm going to update these everyday until Halloween! Review please!

Until then,

~Hannahkimi


	2. Monday

**Summary: **A Halloween Special! Happosai's plan for revenge goes wrong, and the Tendo's end up with TWO Ranma's! With one Ranma committing evil deeds and the other self-inflicting pain trying to stop him, what is Akane to do when the former comes after her next?  
**Rating:** T  
**Chapter One: **Monday

* * *

Monday, October 26th 7:29 A.M.

The next morning, the entire Tendo household woke to the most horrific scream they had ever heard.

Akane shot out of her bed in a frenzy and tripped over her sheets as she instinctively reached for her bokken. After she had a tight hold on the wooden sword, she sprinted to the door, opened it, and ran straight into her father, Mr. Tendo.

"Akane!" he gasped. "What on earth was that noise?"

"I don't know!" Akane exclaimed, a bit dazed from the collision. "I think it came from Ranma's—"

She was cut off by another scream, but this one wasn't of terror. It was rage.

"Who the _hell _are you?"

"Who the hell are _you_?"

Father and daughter snapped their heads towards Ranma's room, where the yells had originated. A split second later they were both sprinting towards his room. Just as Mr. Tendo was about to open the door, he was shoved aside when Ranma himself crashed through the door and into the wall behind them with a loud, "Oomph!"

"Ranma!" Akane gasped and kneeled beside him. She grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him slightly, trying to shake him out of his daze.

"Get away from him, Akane!" A voice shouted from behind her.

Mr. Tendo and Akane, who were both busy with Ranma, turned and felt their jaws drop.

Ranma pounced through the large hole through the door and pulled Akane away from the body lying on the floor.

"R—Ranma?"

Ranma ignored her and pulled her back through to his room.

"Son! What on earth is going on here?" Soun gasped, looking back and forth between the two Ranma's

"Oh my!"

Kasumi's gasp went ignored when the body on the ground gave a loud grunt of pain and jumped to his feet.

Ranma looked around frantically before his eyes locked in on Akane, who was wrapped in the arms of his clone with an astonished look on her face.

"Akane!" he shouted. He sprinted towards them, but Akane and the other Ranma jumped swiftly out of the way and landed on the other side of a snoozing panda who was completely oblivious to its surroundings.

"Careful," said the first Ranma. He wrapped his arms tighter around Akane's waist and bent his head to rub his lips against her ear. "You don't want to risk it, do you?" He grinned as Akane shivered and quickly lifted his hand to caress her breast before lightly pushing away and jumping through the window, crashing through the glass.

Akane fell on top of Genma Saotome in a stunned heap. The other Ranma ran to her side immediately and pulled her up.

"Akane, you okay?"

Akane reacted on knee-jerk reflex and smacked Ranma hard in the face. She gasped loudly in realization when he reared back and cupped his cheek.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, I swear!"

"Ah, whatever! You did that on purpose!"

"What? No, I—"

But before Akane could continue, a loud, hoarse laugh interrupted her.

"Hahaha! Ranma, I bet you wish you didn't burn my precious…" Happosai burst into the room and finally spotted Ranma, who wasn't covered in hives like he was supposed to be. A second later, Happosai was crawling over Ranma's body, checking under his shirt, his legs, the back of his neck for a hint of some sort of rash.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ranma shouted. With a quick jab, he elbowed the old man into the floor before chasing the other Ranma outside to the backyard.

"Ranma, wait!" Akane shouted from the window. "What're you doing?"

"What do you think? I'm going to find out what's going on!" Ranma shouted from the stone steps. He jumped over the brick fence and sprinted around the outer border of the house.

"Wait, stupid!" Akane shouted, the volume in her voice getting louder as she spoke. "Its obviously Happosai's fault!"

"I don't think he can hear you, Akane," Nodoka said, placing a hand on her almost daughter-in-laws shoulder.

"But the _rest_ of the world can…" Nabiki walked into the room, stretching and yawning simultaneously. "_What _is going on here?" she inquired testily.

As Akane, Kasumi, and Nodoka filled the middle sister in, Soun took the time to gently bring Genma out of his slumber.

"Saotome, you old cod, wake up! Wake up I said!" Soun yelled, smacking the panda in the face repeatedly.

"Yeah, Genma!" joined Happosai, who had overheard the conversation between the girls. "Since when did you have _twin _boys?"

"But Genma and I didn't have twins," Nodoka said.

A long silence followed, which resulted in the Tendo family crowding around Happosai with menacing facial expressions. Happosai began to sweat.

"I—I swear I don't know what happened!" he pleaded.

"You did something, didn't you?" Soun accused, poking a finger in the old man's chest.

"Oh, _please_, dad! Didn't you see the way he was all over Ranma earlier? He obviously did something!" Akane said, her eyes narrowed.

"Now, now," Nodoka chided. "How about we settle this in a _civilized_ matter?"

Soun, with a glint in his eye, agreed heartily.

Five minutes later found the Tendo family, Nodoka, a groggy Genma, and Happosai, who was tied up in sturdy rope, sitting around the table in the family room.

"Now, Grandfather Happosai," Nodoka began in a dangerous voice. She pulled out her katana and caressed it gently. Beside her, Genma became wide awake and started to sweat. "Why don't you tell us what happened?" She glanced at Kasumi, who glanced back. Both of them hid small smiles expertly.

Happosai, who was in the middle of mentally forming his excuse, immediately lost his train of thought when Nodoka stroked her sword.

"I—I—I swear it wasn't supposed to turn out like that!"

"And just what were you planning?" Nabiki asked.

"I—I just wanted a little revenge after that fool burned all of my life-long work!"

"So what did you _do_?" Akane rephrased.

"…All I did was make a potion so that Ranma would wake up with a huge rash all over his body! I don't know why there are two of—" Happosai cut himself off with a thoughtful look on his face. Ever so slowly, he turned to Nodoka and Kasumi.

"Shall I go make some tea?" Kasumi offered. She got up and quickly left the room.

"Aha!" Happosai shouted in the direction of Nodoka. "You two _did_ do something to my potion last night!"

"I don't find it very honorable for a man to accuse a woman, even it if was her fault," Nodoka stated.

Happosai zipped his mouth shut.

"Auntie," Akane started incredulously. "_Did_ you do something to the potion?"

Nodoka sighed. "Yes, I admit. I knew that Happosai would be up to no good after Ranma burned his lingerie collection, so I decided to keep an eye on him. I met Kasumi down here, and when the master left to go upstairs, we took the time to tinker with his potion…but what odd results."

"Indeed," Soun nodded. "Master, what did you do after that?"

"I took the potion upstairs when it was finished and spread it over Ranma while he was asleep."

"But there wasn't any residue one him," Akane said, examining her arms. "I touched both of them and nothing weird came off on me."

"Then the potion must have absorbed into his skin," Genma contributed.

"But that doesn't explain the _other_ Ranma," Nabiki said. "How can a potion produce an identical twin in just one night?"

Everyone quieted down to think, only speaking to thank Kasumi when she brought them their tea. They could all hear Ranma running around outside, shouting for his clone to show his face. Finally, he burst through the shogi doors.

"I can't find him anywhere! I'm gonna go downtown and see if he's at Shampoo's or Ukyo's or somethin'," he said. After a few more breaths, he stood straight and glared at them all. "And what're you all doing sitting around sipping tea?"

"We're _trying_ to find out what happened," Akane said testily. Her head was beginning to hurt.

Ranma scoffed. "Well, you do that. I'm gonna get dressed. I'll be back later!"

"But what about breakfast?" Kasumi asked worriedly. "It's already ten!"

"I'll get some at Ukyo's or something!" Ranma shouted as he sprinted up the stairs. Akane's hands clenched so tightly around her cup that is shattered. Little glass shards flew around the table as the hot liquid spread over the smooth surface.

"Nice one, sis," Nabiki said, wiping some stray drops off her face. Akane ignored her and wiped her hands on her PJ pants.

"Well," Soun started. "I agree with Ranma. I don't think we're going to get anything done by sitting around drinking tea. Let's all get dressed and help him find the "other" Ranma," he said, using finger quotes.

"Whatever," Nabiki groaned, slamming her glass down on the table. She got up and went upstairs, the entire family following her except Nodoka and Kasumi, who were still sitting at the table.

Nodoka sipped at her tea daintily. "Well, Kasumi, dear…" she said, a small grin adorning her lips. "I don't know about you, but I think that our meddling might earn us a wedding sooner or later…"

Kasumi smiled. "Oh, my! Really, Auntie? Well then, we should get started on the preparations!"

oOo

Akane collapsed on her bed upon entering her room. She lay there and massaged her temples, trying to mentally beat away her headache.

"I don't believe this…" she moaned. After a couple minutes of rest, she finally decided to get up and get changed. "I didn't even go for my run…"

Akane stripped out of her pajamas and headed for her closet. She silently thanked Kami that it was Fall Break. She had a feeling that it was going to be a _long_ holiday.

She opened her closet and was about to reach inside for a clean blouse when a large hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her inside. She struggled wildly, screaming through closed lips, even though she knew no one could hear her.

"Shhh…" Ranma hushed, the edges of his lips curling. He pulled her to him until she was pressed against his chest before he sank to the ground where he forced her into his lap. He slid the closet door shut with his foot.

Her fists beat wildly against his chest. When she realized that it was doing no good, she began to knock things over, but her closet was far too small for any loud crashes. Pressed tightly against his chest, Akane felt it when Ranma gave a huge sigh and snapped her gaze to him.

"I'll remove my hand if you promise not to scream," he said, looking down at her with half-lidded eyes.

Akane nodded immediately, wishing he'd say that about both of his hands, as the other was stroking up and down her lower back. He grinned and released his hold on her mouth.

Akane took in a large breath to scream when his mouth was suddenly on hers and she lost all of her breath.

What felt almost like an eternity later, he pulled back and licked his lips, pressing his forehead against hers.

"I knew you'd do that," he whispered, using his free hand to grab her chin and force her face up to his.

He kissed her again, this time harshly, but pulled away quickly. Akane, stunned, merely sat there in his lap, not even feeling his other hand as it explored her upper thighs.

He leaned in for another one, but Akane, who finally shook herself out of her daze, pushed him back.

"You pervert!" she whispered, being careful not to raise her voice in case he kissed her again. "I'm half naked!"

"I know," was his only response. She bucked in his lap, trying to make him let her go, but he only held her tighter. "That's why you're here…"

Akane froze, disbelief flooding her system. Shaking her head, she placed both hands on his chest and pushed as hard as she could. His grip, which had loosened when he concentrated on her legs, finally allowed her to put some distance between them, but perhaps it was too much.

She crashed hard into the opposite wall and groaned loudly at the resulting whiplash. His hand gripped her arm and pulled her back to him.

"You all right?"

Before she could answer, Nabiki, whose room was right next to Akane's, knocked on the wall between them.

"Akane? What was that noise?"

"N—nothing, Nabiki!"

They both waited in silence until they heard light footsteps and the opening and closing of a door.

"Damn," Ranma cursed. He stood and opened the closet door, pulled Akane out and walked with her to the window. The footsteps were growing closer.

"Don't worry," he said cockily. "I'll be back." With that, he gave her another kiss on the lips that left her stunned before he jumped out of the window and vanished.

After that, Akane had to wonder if she was dreaming or if she really saw her fiancée disappear right before her eyes. She got her reality check when Nabiki opened her door and immediately shut it upon realizing that her younger sister was only in her undergarments.

"Hurry up, sis! Everyone is waiting downstairs for you!"

Without saying a word, Akane finally began to get dressed.

* * *

Ooohh, a little intense there, huh? Anyway, next chapter is coming up soon! Review please!

~Hannahkimi


	3. Monday and Tuesday

**Summary: **A Halloween Special! Happosai's plan for revenge goes wrong, and the Tendo's end up with TWO Ranma's! With one Ranma committing evil deeds and the other self-inflicting pain trying to stop him, what is Akane to do when the former comes after her next?  
**Rating:** T  
**Chapter Three: **Monday/Tuesday

* * *

Monday, October 26th 10:52 A.M.

"Now, does everyone know where to go?" Soun asked. After everyone nodded, he continued. "And Kasumi, you will stay here, right?"

"Yes, father."

"And Nabiki, you'll—"

"Actually, dad," Akane cut in nervously. "I was wondering if I could stay home instead…"

Everyone stared at her for what felt like such a long time that Akane felt herself blush in embarrassment. But not only that; she was having an internal struggle. Should she tell her family that she was just molested by the other Ranma in her closet only minutes ago?

"Why, Akane? Are you sick?" Soun asked, tears beginning to swell in his eyes.

"No, no…I just have a small headache—"

"She's ill!" Soun cried. "My baby girl is going to _die_!"

"Dad!"

"Oh, pull it _together_, daddy!"

"She'll be fine, father," Kasumi soothed. She went to the kitchen and came back with an aspirin and a glass of water. "Take these, Akane," she said, handing them to the younger girl. "And make sure you get some rest while we're gone, all right?"

"But make sure she hasn't _tinkered_ with the medicine, Akane…" Happosai muttered. The sharp sound of a sword being drawn made him shut up.

Akane nodded and swallowed the pill.

"Lets get going, shall we?" Nodoka said stiffly, sheathing her sword. She grabbed her husband by the bandana and dragged him outside. Soun and Kasumi left after them. Happosai jumped up and sped away while Nabiki took her sweet time finishing her tea before she stood up to leave.

"You have my cell number, right?" she asked, holding up her phone. She pointed down the hall to the home phone. "Make sure you call me if anything happens."

"Okay," Akane said, nodding. Nabiki had finally been investing some of her money and bought herself a cell phone several weeks ago. Shame she only got one for herself and not the entire family.

"We'll be back around noon," was all she said before Akane had the house to herself.

oOo

"Where the _heck_ did he go?"

Ranma was still running around Nerima. He had stopped shouting when the loud wake up calls started to anger the neighbors, not to mention that his voice was getting a bit hoarse.

He had checked Ukyo's first, just because she was closer than the Cat Café. But the other Ranma wasn't there. He had barged into the restaurant, searched the building thoroughly and found nothing. Ukyo was raging at him for misplacing all of her supplies, and was even angrier with him for not even explaining what the search was for. It wasn't his entire fault though. Once he noticed her reaching for her spatula, he high-tailed it out of there.

It was the same situation at the Cat Café, but Cologne was much faster than Ukyo, even in her old age. He emerged from the shop with an empty stomach and large and numerous bruises adorning his upper torso. And all of his pain was for nothing.

He was searching for hours and there was still no sign of him. Ranma was beginning to think that it might be better to give up and go home to eat some breakfast when he saw Happosai at the window of an apartment. He jumped over to the small old man and snuck up behind him.

"C'mon, now, dearie…" Happosai murmured, staring through the window to a woman who was getting undressed. Ranma noticed with disgust that she was in the middle of pulling off her shirt. "Just a little more…"

A painful jab to the head brought Happosai away from his temporary perversion. He turned around and found Ranma, whose fist was reared back for another punch.

"Ranma!" Happosai gasped, pointing. He paused and looked thoughtful, staring at him through curious eyes.

Ranma, feeling slightly uncomfortable under the unrelenting gaze, took a step back. "What?"

Happosai didn't answer immediately. He took a step forward and smirked. "How do I know that you're not the clone Ranma?" he asked.

"I'm _not_ him, you old goat!" Ranma shouted.

"Prove it!"

"How?"

Seconds later, Ranma found himself tackled to the roof by the old man. They were quickly rolling towards the edge and fell into a large puddle that was on the ground beneath them.

"Damn it!" Ranma-chan swore. She shoved Happosai off her and stood up, shaking herself of as much water as she could. "What the hell was that for?"

"Now, now," Happosai chided. He pulled out a pink, lacey brassier from his pocket and held it out to her. "The _real_ Ranma would wear this for his master; no questions asked!"

Ranma-chan popped her knuckles.

Minutes later, Happosai lay on the ground with several large bumps on his head and Ranma-chan wiping her hands on her pants.

"That'll teach ya…"

"Ranma!"

Ranma-chan turned and found her mother sprinting towards her. Her father was lagging behind, panting.

"Mom! What're you doing here?" Ranma-chan asked when they came to a stop.

"We're trying to look for the other Ranma," Nodoka answered. She glared at Genma when he finally caught up. He gasped for breath and stood up straight. "Have you seen him anywhere?" Nodoka returned her attention back to her son.

"Wait, Nodoka," Genma said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "How do we know that _this_ isn't the clone Ranma?"

Nodoka gasped and jabbed her husband hard in the stomach with her elbow. "Genma! I know my son when I see him! How dare you imply that a mother can't recognize her own child!"

Ranma laughed nervously before changing the subject.

"Where's Akane?" she asked, looking around. "Did the entire family split up?"

"Oh, no, dear," Nodoka said. "Akane was feeling ill so she stayed home."

"She—she's _sick_?"

"Well, the weather _is_ getting colder—"

Without waiting for her mother to finish, Ranma-chan turned and sprinted for the house.

oOo

Back at the dojo, Akane was still kneeling at the dining table. The aspirin she took was making her feel drowsy; her eyelids were feeling heavy and her head kept nodding off. She would have gone to her room to get some sleep, but she was _not_ going in there after what had happened earlier.

Akane sighed and rested her head on her arms, finally falling into a light slumber and not realizing that someone was entering her house.

"Akane…?" Ranma called. When he received no answer, he poked his head around the shoji door and spotted his fiancée snoozing at the dining table. He smiled at the sight, but quickly decided that she was going to strain her neck if she stayed in that position.

He picked her up, being as careful as possible not to wake her, before slowly treading up the stairs to her room. Once there, he gently laid her on her bed and pulled the sheets over her body and sat down on her desk chair, staring at her.

The sudden warmth brought Akane back to the real world, but not for long. She had the slightest glimpse of Ranma before she fell back to her peaceful dream state.

Ranma gently caressed her face, smiling when she sighed and turned her head towards him to further nuzzle his hand. He slowly rolled the chair closer to the bed and leaned in, his eyes closing.

oOo

Ranma-chan was grateful that there was still some leftover hot water in the kettle from the tea this morning. When she got home, she went straight for the kitchen and returned to her normal self.

Ranma then grabbed a dry dishrag and patted himself down, knowing that it wouldn't be good for Akane's health if he took care of her soaking wet. After that, he quietly walked upstairs to her room, knowing that she was probably in there resting.

When he reached her room, he wasn't surprised to find her door closed. His fiancée sure did like her privacy. He pressed his ear against the door, wanting to make sure that she was actually asleep before entering. All he heard was a soft sight, which confirmed his thoughts.

He turned the knob and pushed, entering her room. What he saw made his hand clench on the metal knob so tightly that his fingers left indentations.

He finally found the other Ranma, and he did _not_ like the position he was in with his fiancée.

"_Get away from her_…" Ranma snarled, releasing his hold on the knob.

The other Ranma opened his eyes fully and pulled back from his gentle kiss. He turned to Ranma and licked his lips, knowing it would infuriate him.

Negative energy flared around the latter, and Ranma charged without thinking.

oOo

Why was it so loud all of a sudden?

Akane squinted her eyes tighter together and pulled the sheets over her head. There was a lot of screaming going around and it sounded as though things were being thrown to the floor…and the voices sounded so familiar, yet they were the same exact voice…

Eyes widening, Akane immediately sat up in bed and looked around. She was alone in her room, which was a huge mess. Her window was open and the chilly air fluttered around her curtains.

"Ranma…?" Akane called, pushing the sheets away from her and standing up. "What on _earth _happened to my room…?"

Before she began to pick up, she heard a loud thump from above. She looked up in suspicion before she jumped out the window. The cold hit her quickly, and she had to wrap her arms around her upper torso in a sad attempt to keep warm.

She was about to begin her search until she heard voices.

"Come near her again," said one menacing voice, "and I swear I'll kill you!"

The second voice scoffed and Akane imagined the owner waving Ranma's threat off.

"You can't keep her from me…"

It was silent for several seconds, but then the sounds of loud punches and grunts made way to Akane's ears, and she decided to see what was going on. She climbed a bit higher onto the roof, ignoring the biting cold.

"Akane!"

Due to his distraction, Ranma received a powerful punch in the stomach and was sent flying. He landed hard on the roof and had to dig his nails into the shingles in order to keep from slipping.

"Ranma!" Akane started towards him, but was stopped by a strong arm wrapping around her waist. She looked up and found the clone smirking down at her. She stared at him, slightly speechless until she felt his fingers flex on her hip.

Reflexively, she reared back and aimed a punch at his face, but he quickly ducked and pulled her over his shoulder, ignoring her loud squeak of protest.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" Ranma sprang up and charged again, throwing punches so quickly that, to the untrained eye, they were almost blurs. He was extremely careful about where he aimed, not wanting to hit Akane, even though he knew from the scene he witnessed earlier that his copy wouldn't let harm come to her, either. The knowledge made his blood boil.

After a series of unrelenting punches, Ranma finally pulled back and crouched.

The other Ranma stood straight, smirked, and caressed Akane's behind before jumping with her down to the ground.

Akane nearly had a heart attack when she was suddenly falling, but quickly gained control of her heart and started pounding on her fiancées back.

"Let me _go_, you pervert!" she screamed, swinging her legs as well. His grip tightened on her, but it couldn't prevent her foot from slamming into his face.

With a loud grunt, Ranma dropped her and she rolled away from him just as the other Ranma fell in from above.

"Gotcha!"

With a heavy tackle, both Ranma's were rolling around on the ground, both of them throwing kicks and punches every other second. Finally, one pinned the other to the ground with his hands behind his back. Akane merely stared, not really knowing what to do.

"Go find that rope you used on Happosai, Akane!" shouted the Ranma on top.

Akane nodded, but before she took a step, Ranma was flying through the air and the body on the ground sprang up to a standing position.

"Akane…" he said, cradling his cheek from where she had kicked him earlier. Said girl felt chills travel down her spine and shivered. Not only the way he said her name, but the look in his eyes made her want to crawl under a rock.

He looked angry and…hurt?

But before she could get a closer look, he vanished.

The real Ranma jumped up and started looking around again, not knowing that his enemy had vanished into thin air because of the impact he took.

"Akane, where did he go?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he spared a small glance, and quickly did a double take. "Are you _shivering_?"

The question seemed to bring Akane back to the real world. She realized that she was, indeed, shivering and violently. Before she could react, Ranma had already pulled her into the house and forced her to sit at the dining table. He pulled out one of the spare blankets from under the table and wrapped her in it, blushing madly.

"Here, stupid…" he muttered. He got up and went to the kitchen and a minute later, came back with a steaming cup of tea. He offered it to her. "Drink it."

Akane nodded and took the small cup, bringing it to her lips and blowing softly as Ranma took his seat beside her.

A long moment passed in which Ranma leaned his elbow on the table, rested his head on his hand and stared at her.

After several minutes, Akane slammed her cup down and glared at him.

"What?" she demanded.

His eyes narrowed in on her. "He touched you," he stated simply. Akane's face flared red in embarrassment. "…Inappropriately…"

"I—I—It's not like I _wanted_ him to!"

"But you didn't do anything about it!"

"What do you mean by that? I kicked him in the face!"

Ranma didn't answer and just continued to stare at her. Akane rolled her eyes at his suspicious gaze and began to look for the remote so she could watch the television. When she couldn't find it, she turned back to him and decided that maybe an argument would entertain her for a while.

"What now?" she asked, tapping her fingers on the table.

"You're sick?" His answer was a small sneeze. "And it's getting worse?"

"I guess it is…"

Ranma stood up again but Akane grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"I've already taken some aspirin," she said. Ranma nodded and sat quietly.

Another long pause started. Akane daintily sipped at her tea, licking her lips after each swallow and unaware that Ranma was watching her hungrily. He continued to stare at her, his eyes drifting from her mouth to her neck and down to her clothed shoulder, which was revealed because the wind had pulled the blanket down to her waist.

With that quick realization, Ranma jumped up and shut the shoji door, which he had accidentally left open when he led Akane inside to warm her up. Akane watched him with curious eyes, which widened when he sat down again and pulled the blanket up to her ears.

"Why are you being so nice…?" she asked cautiously.

"You're still sick, aren't you?" Ranma replied, pulling the blanket tighter around her. His hands retreated when he finished, slightly brushing against her face. He was surprised when they were both suddenly wrapped in Akane's warmth.

"You're hands are _freezing_!" Akane gasped. She clasped his cold hands and rubbed back and forth, creating a burning friction. Ranma blushed and reflexively attempted to pull away, but she kept him there. He sighed and gave in.

"Thanks," he said softly. Akane blushed and didn't answer. "What time is it…?"

Akane glanced at the clock on the opposite wall. "It's already past noon…Everyone should be coming home soon."

"Oh…"

Damn, these silences were way too awkward, Ranma thought. He concentrated again on his fiancées lips, resisting the urge to lick his own when a memory came up that made his blood boil.

"You two _kissed_!"

The sudden outburst startled Akane so badly that she yelped and pulled away. Ranma snatched his hands back and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"You let him kiss you!"

'I—I—" Akane stuttered, completely bewildered. How did he found out? She was sure that Ranma had been out searching for his clone when she found him in her closet. Positive, in fact…

"How could you?" Ranma asked.

"How did you find out?" Akane retorted.

"What're you talking about? I walked in on you!"

Akane reared back. They had slowly been inching closer to each other during the argument.

"What? You did _not_!"

"_Yes_, I did!" Ranma retorted, almost snarling. "You were even on the bed!"

Akane gasped. "I was _not!_" she shouted, clearly remembering the darkness of her closet.

"Yes, you were!"

A sudden hazy memory of Ranma setting her in her bed made Akane realize something.

"That—that _pervert_! He molested me in my _sleep_!"

"He—he _what_?"

Akane ignored him and pounded her fist into her other hand. "Ohh, the next time I see him…" she threatened slowly. Then she relaxed and blinked. "So that's what you were talking about…"

Ranma's suspicion rose again. "What else would I have been talking about?" he asked, eyes narrowing when Akane blushed and gulped. "What else happened?"

"Ah…" Akane started, averting her eyes. "It was a bit after you left…we all went upstairs to change so we could help you search, but when I went into my room he was in my closet and pulled me in and—"

The loud crunch of the table leg being snapped off interrupted her. She looked up at Ranma. He was staring at her with such a hard gaze that she blinked and averted her eyes again.

"And…what?" he asked, slightly menacingly.

"He—well, he—I was about to scream so he kissed me! There, I said it!" Akane shouted, purposely leaving out the fact that she was almost naked when it happened. She glared back at him and noticed that a red liquid was seeping out of his right hand. "Oh, now look what you did!" she gasped. She forced his hand open and began to pull out the tiny splinters of the table leg.

Ranma didn't respond and instead allowed her to care for him, taking the extra time to think of what this situation reminded him of.

He snapped his fingers.

"This is exactly like that one time I bought that Chinese incense for my training! Remember? The time when my shadow came to life and started pulling all those crazy pranks that everyone blamed me for?"

Akane looked thoughtful for a second and nodded. "Yeah, it is…" she said softly. "Except _that_ clone didn't have any facial features except the eyes. _This_ one is an _exact_ replica of you! We were wondering this morning about how a potion could produce such an accurate imitation of another person in just one night."

"A potion?" Ranma asked.

"Oh right, you weren't here when we were talking about it…" Akane took the time to fill Ranma in on what the family had discussed this morning, but stopped halfway through when the family came home.

"I'm sorry we're late!" Kasumi said. "I'll get started on lunch immediately!" She quickly bustled off to the kitchen, Nodoka trailing behind her as the rest of the family sat around the dining table, which shook badly because it had one table peg missing.

"So what took so long?" Akane asked. She checked the clock again. "You're nearly half an hour late."

"I'm sorry, dear," Soun said, patting his daughter on the back. "Did you miss your father while he was gone? I'm sorry I couldn't be here to take care of you…And what on earth happened to the table?"

Akane ignored him and glanced purposefully at Nabiki, who shrugged and said, "Lost track of time."

Akane scoffed.

"So, anything happen here, Akane?" Genma asked, searching for the T.V. remote.

Akane blushed and Ranma's earlier rage caught up with him in the form of a vengeful aura.

"N—no…nothing…"

She honestly didn't know why she was lying to her family. Akane felt that this might be something she'd have to discuss more with Ranma before informing her family about what happened. She glanced at her fiancée, wondering if he was okay with it. He nodded at her.

"Well, we've searched everywhere…" Genma replied.

"That's right. I had my people on the watch for him," Nabiki said. She gave a meaningful look at Ranma. "So don't be surprised if someone suddenly jumps out at you. I didn't exactly say there were _two_ of you running around."

Ranma rolled his eyes and Akane laughed.

"You know," Soun started. "Maybe we should talk with Dr. Tofu about this. Maybe he might know what's going on."

"I agree, Tendo," Genma said, nodding.

"But you mustn't forget to take the master with you, Ranma."

"What?" Happosai jumped up. "Why do I have to go?"

"Because _you're_ the one that made the potion, you pervert," Ranma said.

"But I'm not the _only_ one," Happosai retorted, glaring at Nodoka and Kasumi as they walked in with lunch.

Nodoka nodded her head. "I admit I am at fault here. I shall accompany you to Dr. Tofu's this evening."

After that, Kasumi served lunch, which were regular sandwiches and a side of soup.

Only several bites into her meal, Akane set her food aside and stood up.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ranma asked, pulling her back down next to him by the blanket.

"I'm going to freshen up. We'll be going to Dr. Tofu's soon—"

"And what makes you think you're going? You're too sick!"

"It's only a cough, Ranma! You can't stop me!" Akane said indignantly. She stood up in a flurry and marched up the stairs. Ranma shot up after her, completely forgetting his meal and ignoring the family as they stared after them.

"You're going to make it worse if you go outside!" he said, quickening his pace to catch up with her. They finally made it to her bedroom. Akane opened the door and walked inside, then tried to shut the door on his foot. After a painful minute of Akane slamming the door repeatedly on his foot, she opened it fully and pulled him in, shutting it loudly behind them.

"A little fresh air will be good for me," Akane chided, walking to her closet. Ranma pulled her back to him, not forgetting what she said earlier.

"What are you doing?" Akane gasped, suddenly finding herself wrapped in her fiancées arms. Instead of answering, Ranma slowly walked towards her closet and slid the door open.

"Good," he said. "He's not in here…"

Akane pushed him aside and began to rummage through her clothes. Ranma watched her from behind, his eyes narrowing.

"You're up to something," he stated. Akane pulled out of her closet with an armful of clothes and spread them out on her bed. Then, she proceeded to try and push him back out through the door. "What're you doing?" he asked, not budging an inch.

"I'm trying to change!" Akane yelled, exasperated. She pointed to her clothes. "Can't you _tell_?"

He didn't answer and just stared at her, waiting for the correct answer. She sighed.

"Your—your _clone _is obviously attracted to me…" she said shyly. Ranma blushed and started sputtering incoherently.

"W—what the hell does _that_ have to do with—"

"It'll be a lot easier to explain to Dr. Tofu if he was there, wouldn't it?" Akane interrupted. Ranma thought about that for a minute before he glared at her.

"So you're trying to lure him out by _undressing_?"

Akane slapped him hard on the chest. "No!"

"Then why the heck are you trying to get me outta here?" Ranma demanded.

"Can't you see, Ranma?" Akane said, glaring straight into his eyes. "He only shows up when _you're_ not around!"

Ranma stayed silent for a minute before coming up with an answer to that. "What about when I walked in on you two kissing…?" he asked softly. Akane turned away and started to match outfits together.

"He was here before you were," she stated simply. She stopped what she was doing and pulled her blanket tighter around her. "Would you mind waiting outside?"

Without answering, Ranma turned and left.

Akane watched him go out of the corner of her eye and listened closely to the sound of his footsteps walking away until she spoke.

"I know you're here…"

Ranma suddenly appeared before her, lying down on her bed. He grinned at her, playfully tugging at one of the straps of her dresses.

"How could you tell?"

Akane glared hard at him. "Don't think I can't feel your hands trying to pull away my blanket, pervert." Her only response was his widening grin. "Now," Akane started, her hand fisting around her mallet. "Are you going to come with us peacefully or am I going to have to knock you out?"

He put his hands up in mock surrender. "I'll go, I'll go," he said smoothly. He winked at her and sat back against the wall with his hands behind his head, as if trying to enjoy some sort of view. "Now hurry up and get dressed."

Minutes later, Akane was in the process of adorning her long pink pants and a jacket, trying to ignore the breeze that flew in from the Ranma shaped hole in her ceiling.

oOo

"Yo, 'Kane! You ready?" Ranma called from the bottom of the stairs. His answer was Akane walking down the stairs towards him.

"Yeah, lets go!" she said, slipping on her shoes. She tried to walk past Ranma, but he caught her arm.

"Did he show up?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "He'll meet us there."

oOo

Ranma poked his head through the door of the Tofu's clinic. "Yo, Doc!" he called loudly. "You here?"

"I'm in here!" said a low voice. Ranma followed it to Tofu's private office. He knocked on the door, then, without waiting for an answer, entered. Tofu turned around. "Oh, Ranma!" he said. The older man shook his finger at the teen. "Get into another fight?"

"Maybe," Ranma said loftily. He took a seat on one of the beds and crossed his arms behind his head. Tofu rolled his chair over to him and gave him a quick examination.

"You don't seem to be injured," he said, slightly surprised.

"I'm not," Ranma muttered. Tofu looked at him.

"So, why are you here?" he asked. Ranma blinked at him before smirking.

"You'll see in a couple of minutes, Doc," he said before picking at one of his fingernails.

Tofu leaned back in his chair, tapping his finger on his chin. "You know, Ranma," he started. "You seem kind of different today…but I can't really put my finger on it…"

It seemed that Ranma didn't hear him or was just plain ignoring him. Being as he was seated right next to his usually rowdy patient, he guessed that it was the latter. But before Tofu could ask his usual client what was wrong, a voice in the other room distracted him.

"Doctor Tofu?"

The doctor swiveled in his chair at the sound of Akane's voice. "I'm in my office!" he shouted back. He heard the shuffling of many shoes, and wondered who else had shown up. He briefly thought of Kasumi and quickly shook his head.

"Good afternoon, Doctor," Akane greeted, Ranma walking in after her.

"Good afternoon, Akane, Ranma—" Tofu paused, stared, and reset his glasses on his nose before doing a double take. "R—Ranma?" He stared between the two identical people standing before him. "You're—_twins_?"

"No," Ranma said viciously, glaring at his clone that was twirling his pigtail on the bed.

"Well, what on _earth_ happened?"

Ranma used his foot to kick Happosai into the room as Akane gently led Nodoka to sit on a chair. After a series of threats and the sharp sound of a blade being drawn, Happosai quickly explained what the potion was originally meant for, then pointed accusingly at Nodoka. After explaining how she messed with the potion and what she used, Tofu quickly grabbed both Ranma's, stood them side-by-side, and gave them both a physical examination.

"This is extraordinary…" Tofu exclaimed. "So a simple potion gone wrong produced an _exact_ replica of a human being…not only physically, but it seems almost mentally, too."

"What do you mean mentally?" the real Ranma snapped.

"Well," Tofu said. "I was speaking with this Ranma earlier and he sounded exactly like you…except more moody." Tofu ducked a punch aimed at his head.

"We were wondering why something like this happened in the first place," Akane interrupted. "I mean, why would baking ingredients in a medicinal potion have such odd results?"

"I'm not sure if I can explain that, Akane," Tofu said apologetically. "But I do think I know _how_ it happened. Happosai," he addressed," you said that you spread the potion all over Ranma while he was asleep, even though the instructions said to avoid the eyes, mouth, and nostrils?"

Happosai crossed his arms and nodded. "That punk deserved everything he got for burning my collection."

Ranma promptly smacked the old man on the head as Tofu slapped his hands together.

"Then that must be it. Because the potion was spread everywhere, the replica was given the exact features that Ranma has during the absorption. I'm guessing that the potion slipped into his mouth; that would explain why they both have the same voice. And if it sank deep enough into the skin on Ranma's head, then that would clarify why they both act the same. All of the knowledge and emotions from the original was shared with the clone."

"But I don't want to share anything with him!" Ranma shouted.

The other Ranma smirked. "Too bad."

Before the _other_ Ranma could retaliate, Akane shouted for them both to shut up.

"This is _too_ confusing," she complained, rubbing her temples. "Isn't there a way to tell them apart? I don't want to say "Ranma" and have them both answering me at the same time!"

"You can't tell us apart?" both Ranma's said simultaneously. They both glared at each other.

"I can't help you there, Akane," Tofu said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Most identical twins usually have _something_ different about them, no matter how miniscule; such as a difference in height, the sound of their voice; even a mole." Akane sank her head in disappointment when Tofu slapped his hands together. "Unless…" he trailed off. He got up and filled up a bucket of cold water. Both Ranma's backed away, but not quickly enough.

With loud screams, two female Ranma's emerged from their shower of cold water.

Tofu placed his hands on his hips, ignoring the girls as they shook their fists at him. "Shucks," he muttered. "I was hoping at least _that_ would be different. I'm sorry, but there's not much more I can do. Why don't you see Cologne? It _was_ an ancient Chinese remedy that you used, right?"

They all nodded and stood up to leave, except Akane.

"I'll meet you outside," she said. "I have to speak with Doctor Tofu privately…It'll only be a few minutes."

Her three companions nodded and turned away. However, the replica Ranma-chan winked at her and vanished. Tofu, who was standing right behind her, felt his jaw drop.

"H—How did she—?" he stuttered, pointing into midair.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, Doctor," Akane said.

Tofu took a seat and shook his head before laughing quietly. "Why am I so surprised? This is Nerima we live in…"

Akane couldn't help but laugh either and found that the feeling lifted several weights off her shoulders.

"Anyway," she said after regaining some of her breath. "I was wondering if you could guess why she can just _disappear_ like that. I mean, the other Ranma-chan can't, right?"

"Hold on, Akane," Tofu said. "Remember, Ranma is an extremely skilled martial artist. Didn't his father teach him the Umisen Ken?"

"Well, yes, but they way the Umisen Ken worked was by _completely_ disappearing into the atmosphere by removing your own aura…Whenever Ranma-chan did it, I had absolutely no idea where she was…but when the replica does it, I can still sense her, and I think she knows that I know."

Tofu scratched his chin. "That is odd…" he admitted. "Is she here now?"

Akane looked shocked. "Well, yes, she is, actually…" she said. "Can't you tell? I don't even think she's bothering to hold it in…"

It was Tofu's turn to look astonished. "This is an odd turn of events…" he said wonderingly. "The Umisen Ken can't restrict one's aura to allow only _one_ person to feel it…it's impossible! But then…why…?"

Tofu got a glazed look in his eyes that Akane recognized immediately. He was thinking; and thinking hard. Knowing that it would take some time for him to sort this out, Akane got up and prepared to leave. Just before she opened the door, Tofu threw a suggestion at her.

"Before you leave, Akane," he said. "You might want to come up with a different name for the replica…might save you from later confusion…"

Akane nodded and left.

oOo

"It's about _time_ you guys got home," Nabiki snapped. "We're all waiting for you so we can eat dinner!"

"Sorry," Akane apologized.

"We wouldn't have taken so long if _somebody_," Ranma-chan glanced meaningfully at Akane, "hadn't taken so long for their _private talk_ with Tofu!"

Nodoka patted her son-turned-daughter on the back.

"Son, it isn't manly to point fingers just because you're hungry."

Akane sniggered as Ranma-chan cowered.

When they all met in the dining room, dinner was already served. Ranma instantly grabbed for the hot kettle meant for tea and poured it over himself. Akane hadn't realized that time flew by so quickly until the meal was over and she had a full stomach.

The family sat there for a minute, enjoying a peaceful silence until Soun spoke up.

"So, what did Doctor Tofu say?"

Akane sighed, feeling another headache coming. She turned to Ranma with pleading eyes.

"Can you explain? I want to go take a bath…"

He nodded, still stuffing food into his mouth. Akane got up and slid open the shoji door, but then turned and said, "He told us that we should come up with a different name for the other Ranma…it'll make it easier for us…" Then she turned and went up the stairs.

oOo

The first thing Akane did upon entering the bathroom was turning on the hot water. She hadn't said anything about it, but her head cold felt like it was getting worse.

She stripped down while the tub filled and turned it off once the water spilled over the brim. She slowly got into the tub, wincing slightly as the hot water burned her skin. Once all the way in, Akane leaned her head back and relaxed, nearly falling into a slumber until she heard a loud splash.

Snapping her head up, she spotted Ranma sitting opposite her in the tub. He grinned at her before looking her up and down through the water.

"Hey."

Eyes wide, Akane screamed.

oOo

Ranma nearly had a heart attack when he heard his fiancées blood-curdling scream emanate from the furo. Jumping to his feet, Ranma raced the rest of the family to the bathroom and threw to door open, only to find Akane wrapped in a white bath towel in the tub.

"Akane!" Ranma yelled. He rushed to her and pulled her out, not caring that she was soaking wet. "What happened? Why did you scream?"

Akane didn't answer and just kept staring at the furo. Ranma's arms tightened around her.

"It was him, wasn't it?"

Finally snapping out of her daze, Akane reared back and punched Ranma hard in the face. Ranma released her from his embrace and cradled his jaw, using his tongue to check for any cracked teeth before glaring at her.

"What the _hell_?" he shouted. By then, Akane had already realized her mistake and was rushing towards him.

"Oh, Ranma! I'm so sorry!" she gasped. She pulled his hand away and closely examined his jaw, completely forgetting that she was wrapped in only in a wet, white bath towel. Ranma blushed, but controlled his instincts and pushed her away. He grabbed her again by the arms and looked her straight in the eye.

"_Was_ it him?" he repeated. Akane nodded and flinched at the powerful aura that suddenly flared around her fiancée. "Damn it!" he cried. He released her immediately and punched the tiled wall, cracking it with his fist. "So _this_ is why he only shows up when _I'm_ not around, isn't it?" he asked more to himself than to Akane.

"I don't understand, Akane. What happened? Was he really in here?" Kasumi asked.

"Y—yeah…" Akane said. "I found him in the bath and screamed."

Nabiki smirked. "Well, this certainly reminds me of the first time you and Ranma met…I'm going to get my camera."

Akane glared at her sister as she walked away. Not wanting to be only in a towel while on film, she grabbed her shirt and was about to remove her towel when she remembered she had an audience. She glared at her family.

Soun and Genma immediately headed back to the dining room for a game of shogi, followed by Kasumi and Nodoka. Ranma had to punt Happosai out of the room so that Akane could get some privacy, but forgot that he was an unwanted guest, as well.

"Get out!" Akane shouted, holding her towel to her chest in one hand and pushing Ranma in the back with the other. He turned around and glared at her.

"No way! Not if that weirdo shows up when you're naked and I'm not around to protect you!"

Akane scoffed. "You know you're talking about yourself, right?"

Ranma turned around and crossed his arm in a stubborn manner. "I'm not leaving," he stated simply. Akane stared at his back in amazement before clenching her fists.

"Fine!" she said testily. "But if you peek—"

"I swear I won't," he said quickly, but Akane found that he was blushing anyway. Resisting the temptation to slap him on the back of his head, Akane dropped her towel and began to dress.

While she was doing so, she intently searched for the other Ranma's aura. When she couldn't detect him, she figured that he was either hiding his presence from her or left the scene.

When she was finished, she stepped in front of Ranma, opened the door, and left without saying a word. Exasperated, Ranma ran after her all the way to her room until she stopped at her door and turned to glare at him.

"_Now_ what?"

"He's going to show up again the second I leave! So I'm not going to."

Akane slapped her hands to her forehead. "I'm going to bed…" she said tiredly. She opened her door, entered her room, and shut it, not knowing that Ranma had already sneaked his way past her when she turned her back.

Thinking that he was pouting outside her door, Akane gasped in surprise when she ran in to his hard chest.

"If he really _is_ like me," said his low voice, "then it might be safer for me to be around to protect you."

Akane pushed him away hard.

"If he really _is_ like you," she retorted, "then it might be safer for you not to be around at all."

Ranma took a step back, hurt. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Akane massaged her temples and lay down on her bed. "It means…" she paused and thought for a minute. "Well, I don't know…he's just…"

"Just what?" Ranma prodded.

"…Perverted…"

Ranma just stared at her. He almost laughed at that, thinking about why he would have a perverted side about her when she was such an uncute tomboy until he remembered the way that the clone caressed her during their fight.

Damn…

Ranma was so wrapped up in that memory that he almost didn't notice that Akane had started talking again. He took a seat on her chair to listen.

"…kind of evil, if you think about it…Also…he seems a lot calmer than you usually are…"

Ranma started. "And _that_ means…?"

"Well," she said, "You usually freak out whenever we're—er—_intimate_…and that Ranma—well, he was just really calm about it," Akane said quickly, not wanting to relive the moments in her closet.

Ranma jumped to his feet. "I—I do _not_ freak out!"

Akane laughed. "What're you talking about? You _always _do!"

"Do not!"

"Ranma, you're doing it right now; and we're only _talking_ about it!"

Ranma paused and took a seat, realizing that she had a point. After a long moment of silence, Akane pulled the covers up to her neck and waited for Ranma to leave. She was surprised again when he leaned back in her chair and placed his foot on his opposite knee.

"…What're you doing?" she asked.

He looked at her like she was stupid before waving his hands at her. "Nothing, dummy."

Akane sighed and closed her eyes. "I meant," she growled. "Why aren't you leaving?"

"I told you; if he only shows up when I'm not around, then I'm going to _be_ around!"

"No, you're _not_!" Akane gasped. "Ranma, you can't stay in my room the entire night!"

"Watch me."

Akane was so frustrated that she felt like pulling her hair out. Knowing that arguing about it would be useless, She jumped out of bed to punch him out but was suddenly dizzy upon standing. She would have fallen over if Ranma hadn't caught her and put her back to bed.

"I'm worried about your cold, too," he admitted softly. "Just let me stay to make sure that it doesn't get worse…I'll even keep your door open, if you want."

Too exhausted to protest, Akane nodded and closed her eyes for the rest of the night.

oOo

Tuesday, October 27th 8:22 A.M.

The next morning, Akane woke up from the most relaxed sleep she had ever had. She looked around for Ranma immediately, and got out of bed when she couldn't find him. She was just about to call for him until a loud grunting noise alerted her to something under her.

Ranma had fallen asleep next to her bed on the floor…and she was standing on him.

She jumped off him immediately and knelt down to help him up.

"What're you doing sleeping on the floor?" she asked.

"Well, where else would I sleep?" he replied crankily. Akane obviously didn't know that she had a high fever in the middle of the night and Ranma was kept up trying to break it. When he managed to get her temperature down to manageable degrees, he collapsed to the floor and fell asleep almost immediately.

Akane didn't answer and tried to force him out of her room again. When he asked what she was doing, she replied, "I'm going to get changed, stupid!"

"Idiot," he retorted. "We've been over this already! I'm not leaving!"

And never did he leave. Ranma spent the entire day by Akane's side, only leaving when she had to go to the bathroom, and still he hung around just outside the door and kept asking, "Is he in there?"

Kasumi kept saying that that was how Soun acted when their mother was pregnant with Nabiki and Akane. Both teens blushed madly, and Akane hoped that that would be enough for Ranma to give her some space. But it was in vain.

Again, they were alone in her room. It was already evening; Akane was reading a book on her bed and Ranma was flipping through one of his manga's on his futon. After realizing that his son wasn't sharing the room with him, Genma had moved all of Ranma's things into Akane's room after having a long talk in private with Soun.

There was no clone Ranma for the entire day. Akane hadn't even felt his presence near her at all. Vaguely, she wondered where he went until she remembered something important.

"What're we going to call him…?"

"Happosai Junior?" Ranma suggested immediately. Akane choked.

"…_What_?"

"You said he was a pervert, didn't you?"

"I also said that he's exactly like _you_, Junior," Akane said, laughing at the look on his face.

They both sat for a minute to think.

"_Evil_ Knievel?"

"No."

And that was the only name they came up with for nearly an hour. At 10 P.M., Akane was actually considering that name until she remembered something.

"Luan Ma," she said, stuttering slightly at the 'l'.

"Luan Ma?" Ranma said. Having some experience with Mandarin, Chinese, saying the first part was a bit easier for him than Akane. "Where did that come from?"

"I just remembered that we have to go see Cologne and just thought of the first time we met Shampoo. That's what she called you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but that's my name in Chinese."

"I know…it's obviously a lot more difficult to say, but the Japanese alphabet doesn't contain an "l", which is why it'll be easier to figure out who's who…it sounds a lot different."

Ranma sat for a moment to think before nodding. "I guess…" he said, slightly hesitantly. It still was _his_ name…

Akane sighed and turned off her lamp. "Good night, Ranma," she bid.

"'Night…"

Akane fell asleep almost immediately, but Ranma stayed awake for a little while longer. Listening carefully to her breathing patterns, Ranma got up sat on her chair, rolling it closer to her bed.

When he was close enough, he placed his hand on her forehead like he had done the night before. She seemed to be getting better, but her cold wasn't gone yet.

Ranma decided to pull another all nighter to make sure that she didn't break into another fever, but exhaustion from the night before won over and he fell into a dead sleep.

* * *

OMG this is 24 pages in 2 days! And I still have tomorrow's chapter to write! Sorry it took so long; in between sprinting upstairs to write, my mom kept calling me down to help her paint the kitchen and living room...you won't believe how much my arm hurts...

Oh, right. I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but I have absolutely no idea if there is Fall Break in Japan..I don't think there is, but I can't say for sure.

Also, if you've read my other story,_ Boys Like Girls_ (which I recommend to you), you'll already know about the petition for a new _Ranma 1/2_ series I was talking about. For those that don't know, there is a petiton for a new Ranma anime that was a result from Rumiko Takahashi san's decision to continue the series _Inuyasha_. The link to the petition is on my profile. Sign please!

'Till tomorrow! Review please!

~Hannahkimi


	4. Wednesday

**Summary: **A Halloween Special! Happosai's plan for revenge goes wrong, and the Tendo's end up with TWO Ranma's! With one Ranma committing evil deeds and the other self-inflicting pain trying to stop him, what is Akane to do when the former comes after her next?  
**Rating:** T  
**Chapter Four: **Wednesday

* * *

Wednesday, October 28th 3:42 A.M.

At first, Ranma had no idea why he woke up when it was still pitch black outside. For a minute, he lay on his futon pondering the reasons and pulling the blankets tighter around his cold body until a drop of something extremely cold hit his forehead.

He sat up and wiped his forehead before looking down. Thankfully, the liquid wasn't enough to change his forms, but where had it come from?

He glanced at Akane before his eyes widened. She was half leaning over the edge of her bed, her face incredibly pale and covered in sweat.

Ranma jumped up and shook Akane awake, nearly pulling back at how cold she was.

"Wake up! Wake up, Akane, damn it!" he yelled. He shook her almost violently, but Akane didn't even twitch. Panicking, Ranma pulled off his nightshirt and wrapped it around her and proceeded to tuck her into both of their blankets before he picked her up in his arms.

Without waiting to alert the family, Ranma ran out of the house and to the clinic.

oOo

The clinic doors were locked when he arrived and Ranma was forced to waste precious seconds pounding on the doors to wake up Tofu. When the man didn't answer, Ranma rammed through the door, being careful to shield Akane from the impact, and set her on one of the patient beds.

"Tofu!" he cried. "Tofu, wake up!"

There was a loud thump from upstairs and the loud, quick pattering of feet made its way down the stairs. The lights finally flickered on.

"What on earth—Ranma?" Tofu squinted, having not placed his glasses on correctly.

"Help her!" Ranma begged, grabbing the doctor by the collar and pulling him towards his fiancée. "_Please_ help her!"

"Calm down, Ranma!" Tofu said loudly. The boy was scaring him; he had never seen the young martial artist in such a panic before.

Ranma didn't listen and started yelling incoherently. Tofu tried his best to ignore him and focused on his patient, who was so pale that he hardly recognized her. He stripped her of all the blankets and held his hand to her forehead, ordering Ranma to be helpful and fetch him the thermometer in the drawer at the opposite side of the room or leave.

Ranma nearly destroyed half of Tofu's belongings trying to find it, but he got it eventually and nearly tripped over his own feet in his hurry to hand it to him. After sticking the thermometer in Akane's mouth, Tofu proceeded to unbutton the top of her shirt, but was having trouble because the fast pace that she was breathing. After struggling for nearly five seconds to undo the second button, he finally decided to tear it off before pulling a stethoscope from under the bed. He plugged the two ends into his ears and pressed the metal end onto her chest, listening to her heartbeat. Ranma stood anxiously by his side.

Seconds later, he pulled the plugs out of his ears and threw the stethoscope to the side. He pulled out the thermometer and gave it a quick glance before standing quickly and walking over to his cabinets, throwing each one open in a frenzy.

"What is it?" Ranma demanded. "What's wrong with her?"

"How long was she sick?" Tofu asked. Ranma's aura flared dangerously.

"_What's wrong_?" he repeated. Tofu's own aura spiked and he turned to face the younger teen, his face shadowed.

"Answer the damn question!" he ordered. He turned back to rummaging through his stuff, throwing small bottles of pills here and there. Ranma pulled back at the doctor's menacing aura and answered.

"The other day…on Monday," he answered softly. Tofu shot off another question.

"What were her symptoms?"

Ranma racked through his brain, trying to find the answers quickly before Akane's condition could get worse.

"Last night—she had a fever, and she was coughing a lot on Monday and my mom said she had a bad head cold and she's been tired a lot and—"

"Her fever; was it like this?"

"No, I managed to break it—I thought she was going to be fine after that!"

Tofu pulled out two masks and threw one to Ranma before adorning the other. Ranma immediately copied the doctor and asked no questions.

"She has the H1N1 virus," Tofu stated. He pulled out a syringe and a small capsule. Ranma watched with slight shock as the doctor sucked the liquid from the capsule into the needle and proceeded to prod the sharp point into his fiancées arm.

"The H1N1…?"

"I need to give her several antiviral drugs to bring her fever down a bit—"

"What's her temperature?"

"104.4 degrees Fahrenheit," he said, slowly injecting the liquid. "Get me an ice pack from the freezer over there."

Ranma did as told and fetched the ice pack. When he handed it Tofu, the man immediately set it on Akane's forehead.

"You're sure that her symptoms started on Monday?"

"Y—Yeah…why?" Ranma asked. He couldn't tell if it was just him, but the adrenaline rush seemed to be slowing him down instead of doing the opposite.

"Good," Tofu said. "Any later and this would have been really difficult to treat."

Ranma nearly fainted at that. "So she'll be okay?"

"In time…"

There was a pause.

"Have you and your family gotten the vaccinations yet?" Tofu asked. Ranma nodded.

"Yeah…a couple of weeks ago…"

They were both silent after that. Ranma sat quietly by Akane's side; jumping at each order the doctor gave him and immediately returning to his seat after he did what was needed.

Tofu set Akane up on a nasal cannula, not answering when Ranma asked what the device was. Then, he pulled out what looked like several strings and hooked them up to certain places on Akane's body where her pulse could be easily detected. After making sure they were attached properly, Tofu hooked the wires up to the computer and waited for the loud beeps to start.

When they did, Tofu pulled out another clean thermometer and shoved it in Akane's mouth and waited. A minute later, he pulled it out and sighed. Ranma sat stiffly in his seat.

"Her temperature is going down a bit, but not enough. I'm going to have to keep her here."

Ranma nodded. Tofu sighed again and leaned back in his seat, wiping some sweat off of his forehead.

Outside, the sun was already rising and creating a pinkish outline on the mountains in the horizon. Tofu stared at them for several seconds before turning back to Ranma.

"You said her fever broke the other night?"

Ranma sat up, slightly startled at the question. He had been staring at Akane the whole time. "Y—yeah…"

"Good," Tofu said. "If she had caught the H1N1 while at the height of the regular seasonal flu, the results would have been deadly." Out of the corner of his eyes, Tofu noticed the boy stiffen considerably and realized that that might not have been the wisest thing to say. "I take it you know what those are?" he asked, pointing to the strings that hooked up to the computer monitor with the scratchy lines.

Ranma nodded; he'd been on those too many times before to not know what they are. "They regularly check your pulse to make sure your alive," he said. "But I don't now what they're called."

"They're called pulse oximeters," Tofu said. "They continuously monitor the saturation of a patients blood. And that one," he pointed at the tubes that were inserted up Akane's nose, "is called a nasal cannula. It makes sure that the patient is getting enough oxygen to circulate through the respiratory system."

There was another long silence, in which Ranma tugged at his mask, feeling slightly itchy.

"Don't play with that," Tofu scolded. "As long as you're near her, Akane can easily give you the virus. When you leave today, you must wash your hands thoroughly and keep that mask on at all times; we don't want to risk you infecting others."

Ranma shook his head. "I'm not leaving," he stated simply. Tofu closed his eyes for a minute, wanting desperately to go back to sleep.

"You can't stay here, either, Ranma. I can't let you get in the way when I'm handling other patients."

"I won't. I'll stay back here with Akane—"

"I'm sorry, Ranma, but—"

"That clone of mine keeps appearing whenever I'm not around," Ranma interrupted, staring at Akane with tired eyes. Tofu looked shocked.

"What?"

"On Monday," Ranma said. "She went to go take a bath and I heard her scream. When I went in there, she was alone, but she said that the other Ranma appeared in the bathtub with her. So I decided not to leave her side at all if it meant keeping that thing away from her." A short paused followed in which Tofu eagerly waited for Ranma to explain more. "And yesterday, I spent the entire day with her and he never showed up. Not once."

"That's…peculiar…" Tofu said softly.

"And I had a fight against him Monday afternoon," Ranma started. "I came home to check on Akane 'cause she had already gotten sick. She was sleeping in her bed, but he was in there with her, and I—" Ranma paused at the memory, not really knowing what to say.

"You attacked him," Tofu provided. Ranma nodded.

"But then suddenly he disappeared. I didn't _see_ it, but I felt it; his aura just dissipated."

Tofu frowned. "Didn't Akane tell you more about that?"

Ranma looked up. "No…why?"

"That was the reason why she stayed behind the other day. She told me that the other Ranma—"

Ranma held up his hand for interruption. "We decided to call him Luan Ma."

"L—Luan Ma…? Your Chinese name?"

Ranma nodded. Tofu continued.

"Anyway, she told me that Luan Ma disappeared and reappeared constantly and was asking how it was possible—"

"Wait," Ranma interrupted again. He snapped his fingers in quick realization. "The Umisen Ken! He must be using it!"

"That's what I thought, Ranma, but I don't think so. Akane said that she can still feel him around her, even though she couldn't see him."

Ranma frowned. "But the trick of the Umisen Ken is to—"

"I know, I know," Tofu said. "That's why I found it odd for Akane to be the _only one_ to feel Luan Ma's aura…and I still can't figure out why…"

Another long silence ensued in which both men silently watched the girl breathing slowly on the hospital bed.

oOo

"It's time for breakfast!"

Seconds later, Soun, Genma, Happosai and Ranma were found tripping over each other as they sprinted down the stairs, each one trying to make it to the table first. They ended up in a large confused heap at the bottom.

"Oh, _please_," Nabiki scoffed. Without waiting for them to get up, she walked right on top of the pile and landed in the hallway. Kasumi and Nodoka chuckled.

After breakfast was served, Ranma was in the middle of stuffing his face when Genma slapped him hard on the back and asked, "Boy, where is Akane?"

Ranma took his sweet time to chew and swallow, then took a sip of his orange juice before answering.

"She's still sleeping. I kept her up pretty late last night." he lied, smirking evilly. He got up and walked to the shoji door before turning around and flashing a peace sign to them all. "I'm going to the Cat Café. See ya."

Walking up the stairs, Ranma grinned as he heard loud accusations aimed at Genma and the snapping of the table being broken in half. He knew Nabiki would get the facts right. His grinned faded as he passed by Akane's room.

The door was open. Ranma peeked inside, still imagining his fiancée sleeping peacefully on her bed, even though she wasn't there. How could he have been so stupid? He walked in and sat on the bed, his eyes slightly dulled before he rearranged her pillows under the blankets to make it seem as though she was actually there. Hopefully, that would fool the family until he found a way to make it better.

He walked back to his room and rummaged through his clothes; pulling out his favorite blue Chinese button up. He hadn't been lying when he said he was going to the Cat Café.

After he was dressed, he jumped out the window and down to the courtyard, figuring that it would be a lot safer than going back the way he came. Just as he passed the large outer gate, a small body pressed itself against him and forced him back against the wood.

"Ranma, honey!"

"Oh, Ukyo," Ranma said dully. "It's you…"

Ranma pushed her away and continued walking, ignoring Ukyo's exasperated gasp.

"Hey, come back here!" she ordered. "I was going to make breakfast for you!"

"I already ate," he said, waving his hand at her dismissively. He heard her growl behind him.

"So where are you going?" she demanded, pulling out some razor-sharp spatula blades.

He turned back and stared at her, clearly irritated. "Cat Café." He almost laughed when Ukyo exploded.

"_What_?" she asked. Her eyes almost glowed with her anger. Ranma, now amused, decided to push her further.

"I figured that it might be Shampoo's turn after I had my way with Akane last night." Ranma dodged three blades that were thrown towards him skillfully. He smirked at her. "Don't worry, _U-chan_," he consoled dryly. "I was planning on coming to you when I was done…"

Instead of attacking him like he expected, Ukyo turned away and marched straight into the house. Curious, Ranma followed her.

Not even greeting the family, Ukyo raced upstairs and threw open the door to Akane's room. Ranma frowned deeply, not liking where this was going.

Noticing the lump on the bed and assuming it was her rival, Ukyo pulled out five more blades and tried to shoot them off, not even seeing Ranma as he tackled her to the side before she could even throw one. They struggled on the floor for a minute. Ranma pinned Ukyo down with her hands locked behind her back. She attempted to buck him off, screaming.

"Let me go, you two-timing bas—"

Ranma interrupted her by placing one hand over her mouth and clamping it shut. She glared up at him, turning her head this way and that so he'd let go, but Ranma kept his hold, waiting for her to give up.

When she did, he finally pulled his hand away from her mouth and redirected it to her neck. Ever so slowly, he picked her up by her throat and slammed her against the wall. His hand twitched, itching to wrap itself tighter around her neck, but instead, he lifted her up with one hand until her feet were no longer touching the ground and she was scrabbling at his arm, choking.

"Don't you _ever_ aim those things at her again," Ranma snarled, referring to her spatulas. It didn't matter that she was aiming for a pillow; the point was that she intentionally tried to kill what she thought was his fiancée. "And don't trick yourself into thinking that I've forgiven you for destroying my wedding. I haven't."

With that, he finally released her. Ukyo collapsed to the floor, her hands flying to her neck immediately. But before she could regain her breath, Ranma grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her downstairs. Once there, he threw open the shoji door to the dining room where everyone was still eating and tossed her un-ceremonially in front of the Tendo family.

They stared from him to Ukyo, completely astonished. Before any of them could say a word, Ranma spoke in a low, warning voice to Ukyo.

"Why don't you tell the Tendo's why you snuck up to Akane's room with those razor blades of yours?" he asked. Ukyo's eyes locked onto his, not believing the situation he was putting her in. Glaring back, Ranma slid the shoji door shut and walked away, smirking as he listened to Ukyo choke out what she was there for.

He strolled slowly to the Cat Café, whistling a merry tune.

oOo

Cologne sat at the table of the Nekohanten, tapping her staff irritably on the ground. Shampoo and Mousse bustled around the restaurant and kitchen, already beginning to prepare meals even though they haven't opened yet.

The old woman narrowed her eyes at the door, feeling extremely uneasy about the day that was to come.

"Mousse," she called. She heard the boy sigh from the kitchens and mentally told herself to demote him. "Bring me the keys."

"Aiya! We open early today? But Great Grandmother, Shampoo not ready to serve customer yet!" Shampoo cried, hastily tying her apron. Cologne chuckled.

"No worry, Shampoo," she said tiredly. "Son-in-law is outside the door."

Shampoo paused, staring at her Great Grandmother before squealing loudly. Cologne winced at the sound and jabbed the key into its lock irritably. She pushed open the door and was slightly surprised as the young teen barged his way through the restaurant without knocking first.

"Aiya, Airen! Shampoo so happy to see you! You take Shampoo out on date, yes?"

Ranma scoffed and ignored her before turning to the old woman.

"Son-in-law," she said warily. There was something different about him. "What brings you here?"

Cologne narrowed her eyes in on the fanged tooth that the boy displayed as he laughed. Something terrible has happened, she guessed. And something terrible was _about_ to happen.

The boy grinned wildly at her and flexed his hands, almost threateningly.

"Call me Luan Ma."

oOo

Wednesday, October 27th 11:16 A.M

Ukyo lay sprawled on the Tendo's floor, still slightly shocked from Ranma's rough throw. Everyone in the room was staring at her, completely speechless after her explanation.

"Let me get this straight," Soun said, laying down his chopsticks and closing his eyes. "You barge into my house, armed with weapons, invade my youngest daughters privacy, and attempted to _kill_ her? While she was still _asleep_?"

Ukyo felt the tears forming in her eyes. She nodded, gasping softly. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and blinked repeatedly, trying to force the tears away, but she only succeeded in making them roll down her red and blotchy cheeks.

"Ukyo," Nodoka gasped, her hand placed over her mouth. "How _could_ you? You _know_ that Akane isn't as strong a martial artist as you are! And to attack her while she was recovering from a cold!"

Ukyo didn't answer, but the tears streamed down her face nonstop, falling into her lap.

"And _just_ because Ranma said that he slept with her?" Nabiki added, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"He—He said that he was coming to me a—after he was done with Shampoo!" Ukyo cried. She bent over as if someone kicked her in the stomach and sobbed uncontrollably.

"You should have known that he was lying to you," Nabiki said. The shock was coming to an end and she continued to eat breakfast. "He said the same thing to us this morning, but I have camera's _all _over this house, and I didn't detect anything going on in her room last night."

"You reacted out of pure rage," Kasumi said softly. "And _this_ is the result. I'm sorry, Ukyo, but you are no longer welcome in this household. Please leave immediately."

Ukyo gasped loudly and stared at Kasumi, hardly believing that the most trustworthy and forgiving person in the entire world was kicking her out. The rest of the family resumed the consumption of their meal.

Soun gave her one pitiful glance before saying, "You've certainly knocked our door down enough to know where it is, Ukyo. Please leave."

It seemed to take Ukyo ages to get to her feet. It all felt like a terrible nightmare to her. On her way out, she felt her heart stop when she heard Nabiki begin to talk again. She paused and listened closely, trying her best not to give herself away by crying again.

"Should I charge her for breaking and entering and attempted murder?" Nabiki said dully.

"What difference would it make?" Genma said somberly. "Everyone _always_ breaks into this house and usually ends up kidnapping Akane. Have we ever charged for that before?"

"And the failed wedding?" Happosai contributed. "Those girls all tried to kill Akane on that day."

"But Akane wasn't sick; she was healthy and capable of fighting back at that time," Kasumi said.

Outside the room, Ukyo clasped her hands to her mouth and ran out of the house, not wanting to hear any more

"And what about Ranma?" Nabiki cut in. "I don't think that _that_ was really him. The real one would never do something like that to Ukyo."

"But that's beside the point, Nabiki, even though I agree…Maybe we should call Akane down and see what she wants to do…she was on the receiving end of those blades, after all," Nodoka said, setting her bowl down.

Kasumi shook her head and stared in the direction of the stair well. "Let her rest for now."

oOo

Tofu leaned back in his chair and sighed softly. He had been watching the weather channel, and it seemed that a snowstorm was brewing and would hit Nerima tonight. He glanced out the window where it was still bright as summer outside.

"What unpredictable weather…" he whispered. He swiveled his chair to Akane and retook her temperature. "98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Her temperature is finally back under control…"

He and Ranma spent nearly four and a half hours trying to stabilize Akane's condition. It didn't help that the boy would panic if Akane so much as twitched in her sleep. Her breathing kept on going irregular, but Tofu was extremely thankful that the line never once went dead.

The doctor looked at the two and gave a small smile. Ranma was instructed to keep Akane dry and dab away the sweat she produced, but the exhaustion and worry finally caught up with him and he fell asleep with his head on her bed, gripping her hand.

Tofu mentally reminded himself to tell the boy to wash his hands thoroughly once he woke up, but that thought completely flew out the window when he saw Akane's eyes open.

"Akane!" he gasped. Tofu jumped up and felt her forehead. "How are you? Do you feel better?" He tried to keep his voice down as to not wake up Ranma.

Akane blinked confusedly at him. "D—Doctor Tofu…?" she asked. She coughed violently, waking up her fiancée.

"Akane!" Ranma yelled. He began to panic again when she didn't stop coughing. "Doc, what do we do? She can't _breathe_!"

"I'm _fine_!" Akane wheezed out, patting her chest.

"She's right, Ranma," Tofu said. He sat her up in the bed and placed some extra pillows behind her. "Its just from lying down too long."

But Ranma only calmed down once she stopped coughing.

"What happened?" Akane asked, looking around. "Why am I at the clinic?" She looked at Ranma, and frowned. "Why are you wearing a mask?"

"You were infected with the H1N1 virus, Akane," Tofu answered. "Ranma brought you here around 3 in the morning for treatment."

"The H1N1…?" Akane asked. "But me and my family and the Saotome's got the vaccination weeks ago!"

"I know, but the vaccine doesn't fully protect you from the virus."

"But I feel—"

"If Ranma hadn't brought you when he did, you'd be dead by now." Tofu interrupted.

Akane felt the shock filter through her quickly. Dead? She was about to _die_?

"I—I—" Akane stuttered, not really knowing what to say. "But yesterday—I felt fine yesterday, so why would I be infected so quickly?"

"Most people get it and just think it's the seasonal flu. Ranma told me that you had a high fever on Monday night."

Akane looked at Ranma, surprised.

"I did?" she asked. Ranma nodded. She frowned at him. "And why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't think it would matter," he said quickly. "I managed to break it, and after that I thought that you'd be fine…"

"I'm going to have to keep you here until you get better, Akane. I heard on the news that there's going to be a snowstorm, so, Ranma, if you could phone home and let everyone know what's going on and ask someone to bring some extra clothes, then that would be very helpful."

Ranma nodded, but didn't get up to leave. Instead, he grabbed Akane's hand again and laid his head down on her bed, staring at her.

Sensing a moment coming on, Tofu quietly left the room, shutting the door lightly behind him.

"Thank you, Ranma," Akane said so softly that he almost didn't hear her.

Ranma bit his lip, trying not to remember the reason why she was here. He nodded at her and gently stroked her hand.

"Don't mention it," he muttered. He smiled playfully at her. "Just don't scare me like that again, tomboy."

Akane laughed and closed her eyes for a long nap. Ranma followed her quickly, never letting go of her hand.

oOo

"So, _Luan Ma_, what brings you here?"

Luan Ma chuckled and sat down on one of the chairs in the restaurant.

"Don't be surprised with what I'm about to tell you," he warned. Cologne chuckled.

"This is _Nerima_, boy. Everything is a surprise, here."

Luan Ma looked at Shampoo and Mousse, who were both watching him intently. Positive that everyone's attention was on him, he began his story. Cologne listened intently and warned Shampoo and Mousse that if they interrupted at all then they would be sent to wait upstairs.

When he was finished, Luan Ma leaned back in the chair and waited.

"So…" Cologne said after a long moments of silence. "This is the odd feeling I've been getting lately…"

Luan Ma stared at her. "You knew?"

"I knew _something_ was up," she said. "How is the family taking it?"

"Pretty well, I suppose," Luan Ma answered. "But the real reason why I came here was because of Akane."

Cologne nodded, the uneasy feeling in her belly rising again. "What is it?"

"She's in the hospital—she's been really sick the last couple of days, but her illness only started when _I_ came around. Can you explain that?" Luan Ma asked. He leaned forward, waiting for the old woman's answer.

"I have no idea," Cologne said, shaking her head. "Besides, I'll have to see Ranma and Akane in order to get the full gist of what's going on. How serious is her illness?"

"She caught the H1N1 early this morning."

"And how is she now?"

"I don't know; I haven't checked up on her yet."

Cologne frowned. "You haven't?"

"I was planning on visiting her after I talked with you."

"Well then, lets leave. I want to see how the girl reacts to both yours and Ranma's presence."

Luan Ma held up one hand. "Wait," he said. "There's something else—"

"What?" Cologne demanded. The uneasy feeling increased.

She watched intently as Ranma disappeared into thin air. Shampoo and Mousse looked at each other back and forth.

"Why Airen use Umisen Ken?" Shampoo asked Cologne. The old woman narrowed her eyes considerably.

"He isn't…" she answered softly. She glared at both Shampoo and Mousse. "Both of you open the shop without me, I'll be gone a while," she said sharply.

"But Great Grandmother," Shampoo protested. "Shampoo want to go too—" She was cut off by a hit to the head with the older woman's staff.

"Do as you're told, child!" Cologne commanded. "Luan Ma!"

Luan Ma reappeared at the entrance, smirking. "Ready?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and stepped outside.

oOo

Wednesday, October 28th 12:30 P.M.

When they arrived, Cologne was surprised to find the shoji entrance doors to the clinic busted off the hinges.

"What on earth happened?" she wondered out loud. Luan Ma didn't answer and walked inside. Cologne was just about to follow him when he suddenly pushed her back out.

"Boy, what do you think you're doing?" she asked, astonished that he could be so rude to an elder.

"If Ranma is in there, then I'm not allowed in," Luan Ma said, clenching his fist. "Damn…"

"What do you mean?"

"This is what I was talking to you earlier about, remember?" Luan Ma asked. "Whenever I'm near her with Ranma around then her condition just gets worse. I want to know why."

Cologne sighed. "All right. Stay outside, I'll be back in a moment."

oOo

After the short nap, Ranma finally pulled away from Akane and reached for the phone. Just as he was about to dial the home phone number, a knock on the door stopped him.

"Come in," came Tofu's voice. The outer shoji door slid open and Ranma heard someone enter the clinic. Not caring, Ranma again tried to punch in the number until he heard Tofu speak again.

"Ah, Cologne! What are you doing here?"

Ranma paused again.

"I'm here to see Ranma and Akane," came the old woman's voice. "Are the back there?"

"Yes, yes, please follow me…"

The door to the patient room opened and Tofu strolled in with Cologne hopping on her staff behind him.

"Ranma," she addressed quietly, noticing the sleeping Akane. "I've just spoken with Luan Ma. Come outside, I don't want to disturb the girl."

Ranma quickly complied and ushered the other two out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"We were planning to see you sooner or later," Ranma said, taking a seat in the waiting room. "I supposed my clone told you everything?"

"It's _Luan Ma_," came and irritated voice from outside. Luan Ma walked into the clinic, glaring at Ranma, who attempted to get up, but was pushed back by Cologne.

"Both of you take a seat. Then, we can sort this mess out."

* * *

Whoo...finally finished chapter four. Don't expect the fifth chapter to be out early tomorrow morning; its most likely going to be posted around this time. Anyway...

I can't believe I gave Akane H1N1! Ah! At first, I wondered if that was too...I don't know...serious? After all, most fanfictions have characters who catch colds in them, but they authors never specify...and I think I definitely specified.

Well, I don't think I edited this one too well, so if you catch any mistakes, please let me know!

Review please!

~Hannahkimi


	5. Wednesday and Thursday

**Summary: **A Halloween Special! Happosai's plan for revenge goes wrong, and the Tendo's end up with TWO Ranma's! With one Ranma committing evil deeds and the other self-inflicting pain trying to stop him, what is Akane to do when the former comes after her next?  
**Rating:** T  
**Chapter Five: **Wednesday and Thursday

* * *

Wednesday, October 28th 1:16 P.M.

Cologne, Ranma, Luan Ma, and Tofu all sat at a round table. Ranma and Luan Ma sat opposite each other by Cologne's doing, knowing that they would fight if they sat next to each other. She looked back and forth between the twins, her frown increasing.

"How can anyone tell you two apart?" she asked, trying to sound as if she was asking out of pure curiosity. Truthfully, she had already forgotten which one was which. She massaged her temples; her old age was catching up with her.

"You can't," they both answered. They glared at each other again.

"So, Cologne," Tofu interrupted quickly. "Why are you and Luan Ma here? I assume he told you everything and you came to see for yourself?"

"Not only that," Cologne answered. She pointed to the room that Akane was resting in. "Luan Ma wants to figure out why he and Ranma can't be in the same room with Akane together."

Tofu addressed Luan Ma. "You told her about your ability to disappear and reappear using the Umisen Ken, right?"

Luan Ma nodded, but before he voiced the confirmation, Cologne cut him off.

"He gave me a demonstration," she said. "The problem, doctor, is that Luan Ma is _not_ using the Umisen Ken."

Tofu nodded slowly. "I was wondering about that, too. The other day, Akane told me that she could still feel his aura when Luan Ma's disappeared. She asked me if I could feel it, and I couldn't. I found it strange."

"That's because when you're using the Umisen Ken, you can either _release_ your aura so that others around you can sense it, even if they can't see you, or _retain_ so that you completely erase yourself from the world," Cologne answered.

"Then why can Akane feel his aura when I couldn't?" Tofu asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Cologne stood up and hopped on her staff. "Let me see the girl; I want to examine her condition."

Ranma and Luan Ma both stood at the same time and glared at each other. Before one could say a word, Cologne snapped at them.

"You two both stay here; I need to observe her both _before_ and after you two enter the room."

With that, she turned and hopped through the door that Tofu held open for her. She thanked him gratefully as he shut it behind her.

"She doesn't seem too ill," Cologne commented. "A bit pale, but that's all…"

"She woke up a couple of hours ago and she said she felt fine," Tofu informed. Cologne nodded before walking closer to the girl, her eyes narrowed.

"How was she when Ranma was in here?"

"Normal," the doctor answered truthfully. "After her temperature went down, everything else got better."

"Bring them in here, will you?" Cologne asked, tapping her finger on her chin. "One at a time."

Tofu opened the door and called to the boys, whom were both sitting at the table with their arms crossed and glaring at each other. "You can come in now," he said softly.

Both of them scrambled to their feet and raced to the door, but slowed down considerably once they reached it.

"Come in first, Ranma," Cologne ordered. "Luan Ma, wait outside for a minute."

Ranma cautiously walked inside the room, slightly afraid something might happen, even though nothing did.

"Now, Luan Ma," Cologne started. "Before you enter, use your disappearing technique and come inside…I have a terrible feeling about this," she muttered. "And both of you stand just inside the doorway!" she snapped quickly.

Ranma walked backwards towards the door, feeling extremely uncomfortable when Luan Ma's aura vanished.

"Come inside now…slowly…" Cologne said, watching Akane intently. Moments later, Akane twitched in her sleep, a frown adorning her face. "Hmm…" Cologne wondered. She turned her gaze to Ranma.

"Whatever might happen next," she warned, "you must leave the room _immediately_ when I tell you to. Do you understand, son-in-law? You too, Luan Ma." She looked at Tofu. "I advise you to prepare for the worst, Doctor…"

Ranma's eyes widened, but before he could say a word, Cologne looked around the room and called, "Luan Ma, make yourself visible to us please."

Milliseconds later, Luan Ma reappeared, just as Akane's eyes shot open and she began convulsing in the bed violently. The pulse oximeters were beeping wildly and continuously at a dangerously quick pace, and Tofu was forced to hold Akane down in the bed by the shoulders to keep her from injuring herself.

Both Ranma and Luan Ma shot for Akane, screaming her name simultaneously, but they were stopped by Cologne, who flung them back with her staff.

"Out!" Cologne yelled. "Both of you, _out_!"

Without hesitating, the teens backed out of the doorway. The second they left, Akane collapsed back on the bed, breathing heavily, her eyes still wide open. They closed slowly and her head sank to the side, unconscious.

Tofu stuck another thermometer inside her mouth before turning on the nasal cannula and pumping the tank up to a higher level. Then, he pulled the thermometer out of her mouth and looked at it.

"Her temperature went back up," he said slowly. "Cologne, can you get me an ice pack from the freezer? This one's already melted…" She tossed the pack to him and Tofu immediately placed it on Akane's forehead. He closely monitored her pulse and upped the amount of oxygen intake again and again until her breathing went back to normal. When it did, he pulled back and wiped the sweat off is forehead.

"That was terrifying," he gasped.

Ranma and Luan Ma stood as close to the door as they could without entering, terrified that Akane might get another seizure.

"I was afraid this might happen…" Cologne said, shaking her head.

"What?" Luan Ma asked. Everyone stared expectantly at her.

"When you appeared, Luan Ma," she said softly. "You caused a severe disruption of the qi flowing around the room—"

"So this is all your fault!" Ranma accused.

"What?" Luan Ma gasped. "No, it—"

"It is _no one's_ fault!" Cologne snapped. She pinched the bridge of her nose and calmed herself.

"So the reason why all three can't be in the same room together is because of the change in atmosphere it causes?" Tofu asked.

"That is correct…" Cologne sighed.

"But why does it only effect Akane?"

Cologne shook her head. "I can't say for sure…" she said slowly.

"But that can't be it," Tofu denied. "When I talked to them on Monday evening, all three of them were in the same room together and nothing happened to Akane."

"That must be because the replica wasn't fully recognized as a human being by nature."

"Nature?" Ranma echoed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nature has everything to do with it, son-in-law," Cologne said. "There were _never_ meant to be two Ranma's, and now Nature is trying to tell us that the system is unbalanced. With two Ranma's living in the same world, two _identical _beings, life is slowly being taken from Akane in return; in exchange for peace."

"So what do we do about it?" both Ranma and Luan Ma asked. Cologne side and gave them both apologetic glances.

"The problem will eventually solve by itself," she said.

"But what about Akane?" Tofu asked.

"She'll be fine as long as only one of you see her at a time, or if Luan Ma is masking himself. Otherwise, the sudden unbalance of qi can easily kill her."

Both Ranma and Luan Ma gulped loudly at that.

"Might I add, the situation might be different if you're outside with her. In that case, there will be much more energy flowing around to balance out the shift. Now, let the girl rest for now," Cologne added sharply, seeing the two boys about to come in. She looked at them both. "There is another matter I would like to address with you two."

Cologne and Tofu quickly exited the room and shut the door quietly behind them. Tofu went to make some tea while the other three took their seats at the table. They sat there quietly, waiting for Tofu to return. Ranma spent the time examining some of the pictures on the doctor's walls. Some were of his previous patients, but Ranma quickly noticed that most were of Kasumi. He stared at the pictures, trying to figure out the nagging feeling at the back of his mind.

Ranma jumped up in a frenzy. "Shoot! I forgot to call the Tendo's and tell them that Akane's here!" He raced to the phone, picked it up, and dialed the number in quickly.

"Hang on, Ranma!" Tofu said as he came back to the table. "Let me talk to them; I can tell them how Akane's doing. Besides, Cologne seems to have something important to say to you."

Ranma nodded and handed the phone to the older man, who pressed it tightly to his ear.

"Yes, Mr. Tendo?" he asked. The rest of the conversation was blocked out when Cologne started talking, but they could still hear the loud exclamations on the other end of the line.

"Anyway, boys," Cologne started. "I assume that you're mistaken to be _identical_ twins, am I right?" She continued when the boys nodded. "Well, I've noticed a significant change. Ranma, look closely at Luan Ma's teeth; do you see fangs or am I seeing things in my old age?"

Ranma leaned in closely to his clone, who bared his teeth.

"Y—Yeah…" Ranma stuttered. "But why does he have them?"

"I think I can answer that back at the Cat Café," Cologne said. She stood up on her staff and hopped to the entrance. "Follow me, boys. Have a good evening, Doctor Tofu!"

"You too, Cologne!" Tofu called.

"Wait—but what about Akane?" Ranma asked. "Her family will be here soon, won't they?" he said to Tofu.

He nodded. "They're on their way," he informed. "But I'll tell them where you went."

"Its settled, lets go." Cologne pushed them out of the clinic and on to the street. "We're going to need Shampoo's help with this one…"

When they arrived, the restaurant was buzzing with customers. The trio had to push past a long line of consumers to even enter the store. When they made it past the entrance, Cologne continued to lead them back to the kitchens, where Mousse was hurriedly taking dish orders from Shampoo.

"Shampoo, come in here!" Cologne demanded. She whacked Mousse on the back of the head. "It's your turn to serve, duck boy. Go on."

Mousse left, cradling his head as Shampoo bounced into the kitchens. She saw both Ranma's and gasped.

"Aiya! Airen no lie to Shampoo!"

"Calm down, girl," Cologne said. "And take grab a glass of cold water, I have to test something."

Without questioning the elders intentions, Shampoo did as told, expecting the old woman to splash Ranma and Luan Ma with the cold water instead of her. Her shriek of surprise quickly turned into a loud mewl.

Cologne watched the boys closely, her eyes narrowed and searching for any sort of reaction.

Surprisingly, Ranma didn't even blink at the change. All he did was stare at the purple cat and then at Cologne before looking at his hands.

"Is there something wrong with me?" he asked, more to himself than to Cologne, who averted her eyes to Luan Ma. She shook her head.

"No," she answered. "But there's something wrong with _him_…" Cologne quickly pulled the cat away as Luan Ma lunged for it. She hopped back to the ground and picked up her staff, aiming it at him. "Calm down, sonny," she said gently.

"What the _hell_ are you playing at, old woman?" Luan Ma snarled. He popped his knuckles and dove again. "I'll _kill_ that thing!"

Cologne dodged again and landed on the stove. She quickly dropped Shampoo into one of the pots of boiling water that was meant for ramen as Luan Ma stumbled in the small room, trying to regain his balance. Shampoo emerged, sputtering loudly.

"Aiya! Water is too too hot! Great Grandmother, why you do that?"

"Damn you," Luan Ma hissed. "You ever pull that stunt again and I _swear_ I will kill you!"

Ranma stood off to the side, watching with slight astonishment that his clone was acting with such hostility.

"Airen!" Shampoo gasped. "Why so mean to Great Grandmother?" She hopped off the stove and sauntered towards Luan Ma, who glared menacingly at her.

"Get back, Shampoo," Cologne warned. But Shampoo didn't listen and continued her advance on Luan Ma, who bared his fangs at her.

"Airen like Shampoo as woman, yes?" she asked. Shampoo got too close and tried to press her naked body against Luan Ma, but he finally snapped and pushed roughly at her. She stumbled backwards and hit her head hard against the wall and fell in an unconscious heap to the floor.

"Foolish girl…I warned her…" Cologne said. Ranma stood with his mouth agape.

"But I swore never to hit girls!" he exclaimed. "Why the _hell_ did you do that?"

Luan Ma scoffed and wiped his hands on his pants, as if finishing some dirty job. "I _didn't_ hit her."

Cologne interrupted before another argument could start. "I see now," she said. She hopped towards her great granddaughter and covered her with a spare table cloth. "It seems that Luan Ma has taken his fear of cats from you, Ranma. But, instead of that fear carrying on in him, it transformed into to pure rage."

Ranma scratched the back of his head, confused. "Why would it do that?"

"Because Luan Ma is your inner most feelings brought to life," Cologne answered. "Luan Ma has the ability to express what you really think, Ranma. Deeper than your fear of cats lies your rage, and now it seems that the hatred for the animal itself is turning Luan Ma into one; this is why he has grown those fangs of his."

Ranma looked thoughtful. "So that means that when you molested Akane in her closet…"

"I didn't _molest_ her," Luan Ma snapped. "She wanted it—" He was cut off by Cologne's loud laugh.

"Oh, ho! And what's that? Luan Ma, you _sexually harassed _Akane?"

"I just said I _didn't—_"

"But then _that _means," Cologne interrupted again, "that, Ranma inwardly wanted to do the same! What an odd turn of events!" She laughed again. "Dear son-in-law, I never knew you could be such a pervert!"

Both Ranma and Luan Ma blushed madly and glared at the old woman, who continued to laugh until they shook their fists at her.

"Now, now, no need to get testy!" she said. Then, she sighed heavily and began stirring some noodles. "Now, boys, I think that's all I can do for you today. I'm afraid that we have a rather busy dinner rush and I need to get back to work."

They both nodded. Luan Ma vanished again and Ranmawalked to the entrance of the kitchen door, but paused when Cologne spoke again.

"Oh, and Ranma—" she said. "I want you to think _hard_ about your innermost feelings, do you understand? It'll make it a lot easier for you to predict what Luan Ma is going to do."

Ranma nodded and left the restaurant.

oOo

Wednesday, October 28th 5:27 P.M.

"How could she have gotten the H1N1?"

Tofu sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm really sorry," he mumbled. "But could you please ask Ranma or Luan Ma when you see him? I've had a _very_ long day…"

Soun nodded immediately. "We understand, doctor. Thank you very much for taking care of my baby girl!" he sobbed.

"You have to remember to thank Ranma, too," Tofu said. "He's the one that brought Akane here in the first place."

"You see, Tendo?" Genma said, smacking his friend hard on the back. "I told you it was a good idea to move the boy into Akane's room!"

"But who in the world is _Luan Ma_?" Nabiki asked. Tofu stared at them all.

"That's what Ranma and Akane decided to call the clone—didn't they tell you?"

"No, they didn't," Nodoka said.

"Luan Ma?" Genma echoed. He chuckled. "We were thinking about Evil Kniveil!"

"Or just naming him after Master Happosai…" Soun added quietly. Tofu laughed loudly, but stopped when he heard someone call his name.

"Yo, Doc? You still here?"

"Its Ranma!" Nodoka gasped. She rushed out of the room and greeted her son at the entrance of the clinic before pulling him inside to Akane's room, but was surprised when he suddenly jerked his arm out of her grasp at the doorway. "Son! What's wrong?"

"Is Luan Ma here?" Ranma asked cautiously, glancing purposefully at Tofu. After the doctor shook his head, Ranma took a step inside the room and immediately rushed towards his still sleeping fiancée.

"How is she?" he asked, feeling her forehead.

"No need to worry, Ranma," Tofu said. "She's been getting better and better. I'd say she'll be awake in a couple of hours."

Ranma nodded, his attention only on Akane.

"Ranma, son!" Genma exclaimed. "Why don't you tell us what happened to Akane this morning, boy?"

With a loud sigh, Ranma launched into his story, explaining every detail that Tofu and Cologne told him and even using hand gestures to help exaggerate the situation. When he was finished, the whole family just stared at him.

They asked billions of questions all at once, but Ranma held up his hand for a pause.

"So Akane still can't come home tonight?" he asked Tofu. The older man looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding.

"As long as you take Cologne's advice and be _extremely_ careful about when you enter a room if she's in it."

Ranma grinned and nodded, but his grin faded when Tofu gave him a stern look.

"I'm serious, Ranma," he said. "If she gets sick again tonight because of yours or Luan Ma's carelessness, you won't be able to make it back here through the snow storm. _Be careful_." Tofu then proceeded to dig through his drawers and handed them several cases of antiviral drugs. "Take these just in case," he said, pressing the medicine into Soun's shaking hands.

"B—but what if she _does_ get sick again?" he stuttered. "Won't it be better to keep her here?"

Tofu smiled. "I'm sure she'll be fine," he said. "Besides, Akane will want to be around her family, not stuck in some clinic. You can take her home when she wakes up."

"Well, in that case," Nabiki started. "I'll be waiting at home. We left Kasumi there for…" she glanced at Tofu, who's glasses fogged up again, "…obvious reasons."

"I suppose we should go too, dear," Nodoka said. She and Genma left the room quietly, and then it was only Soun, Ranma, and Tofu. Soun sighed heavily and stroked his youngest daughters cheek. Then he looked at Ranma and smiled.

"You'll bring her home safely, won't you, son?"

Ranma blinked, slightly surprised that Mr. Tendo asked him something like that. "Of course," he answered immediately. Soun nodded, and got up slowly.

"I'll see you at home, son…"

oOo

Thursday, October 29th 9:36 A.M.

Ranma woke up unusually late the next day. He sat up in his bed and shook his head, feeling slightly confused. Then, he remembered that he slept in Akane's room again. At the thought of her, Ranma shot up and looked for Akane on her bed, but she wasn't there.

Panicking, Ranma sprinted out of the room and down the stairs.

"Hold it!" a voice commanded loudly. Ranma paused just outside the dining room and peered inside.

Luan Ma was sitting at the table, along with Akane and the rest of the family. Luan Ma smirked at him and chuckled at the glare he received in response.

"You're a bit late…" he chided. "Now you have to wait until I finish…" He took a large bit of rice and chewed it slowly, tauntingly.

"Damn…" Ranma cursed. Kasumi smiled at him and brought him his breakfast out in the hall.

"Thank you for brining her home last night, Ranma. It was awfully sweet of you!" Kasumi said. Ranma nodded at her and dug in.

"So how're you feeling today, 'Kane?" Ranma asked with a stuffed mouth. Akane rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't help but giggle.

"A lot better, thanks," she said. Luan Ma grinned at her before rubbing her up and down on the back.

"I've got to go see someone," he said before standing up. "I'll be back around dinner…if it takes that long…"

"Who're you going to see?" Akane asked, slightly surprised when he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"Nothing to be jealous about, '_Kane_," he whispered seductively. He grinned when he heard Ranma snap his chopsticks out in the hall. Without saying anything else, he vanished.

The second he left, Ranma stormed into the room and sat down where Luan Ma was only a minute ago. He grabbed several napkins from the table and forced Akane's head towards him.

"You got something on your cheek," he said, and then began to furiously rub at the cheek that Luan Ma kissed with the napkin.

"Ouch!" Akane yelled. "Ow! Ranma, that hurts!"

Ranma didn't pay attention and continued to roughly dab at her cheek. The rest of the family laughed at his antics, reminding him that, in a twisted sort of way, _he_ was still the one that kissed her. Ranma, blushed, but tried to ignore them.

"So who was that punk going to see?" Happosai asked when all the commotion ended. "Ukyo, maybe?"

"Why would he want to see U-chan?" Ranma and Akane asked simultaneously. They both got worried when the entire family looked somber.

"Akane," Kasumi said. "You remember what we told you when you came down this morning? How Ranma explained to us that Luan Ma was a physical form of Ranma's thoughts and feelings?"

Akane nodded and Ranma paled considerably, remembering Cologne's earlier advice.

"Oh no…" he murmured. He set down his rice bowl and stared at them. "What did he do?"

"Well, son…" Nodoka started. "Yesterday morning, Luan Ma (we thought he was you at the time,) came downstairs and said that…well…" Nodoka trailed off, blushing slightly.

"He said that he and Akane had a good time the other night," Nabiki fulfilled. She continued before Ranma and Akane could have time for a dramatic outburst. "Then he said he was going to the Cat Café, and apparently met Ukyo outside. He joked with her about it too, but Ukyo was so furious that she barged into the house and tried to kill Akane while she was sleeping."

"But I was at the hospital by then," Akane interjected. "I wasn't even here."

"We know," Kasumi said. "We went up to check your room after Doctor Tofu called and found your pillows stuffed under your sheets."

"And then what happened?" Ranma asked, feeling slightly sick.

"We're not sure what happened upstairs; all we know is that Ukyo tried to kill what she thought was Akane and Luan Ma got furious with her," Nodoka explained. "He dragged her down the stairs and threw her into the room while we were finishing breakfast. Then he told her to explain to us why she was in the house armed with weapons and sneaking up to Akane's room while she was sleeping. After that, he just left."

Akane paled. "Ukyo wanted to _kill_ me?" she said. She turned to Ranma and stared at him, astonished. "Why would Luan Ma joke about sleeping with me?" she asked. Ranma blushed and averted his eyes.

"_I_ don't know!" he said. "Ask him! He's the one that said it—" Ranma was cut off by a hard smack to the head.

"Luan Ma represents _your_ thoughts and feelings, dummy!" Akane said. Ranma shook his head in disbelief and ignored her.

"Ukyo must be pissed at me…" he mumbled. He held his head in his hands until Nodoka addressed him.

"Ranma, son," she said softly. "There must be _some_ reason why Luan Ma would provoke Ukyo like that. It must have been something terrible she's done to you in the past…Can you think of anything?"

A very brief image of his wedding came to mind; Akane, sobbing into her mother's old wedding dress, which was torn and completely destroyed.

Ranma's smiled grimly.

"Now I remember…"

* * *

Ah! Finally, this is done! I think my eyes might pop out...Anyway, I hope you'll all forgive me; you must know that I did NOT plan ANY of this story out, so I have as good a chance of figuring out what's going to happen in the next chapter as you do, and I'm the author!

I was quite surprised at the reviews I got for the last chapter. Doesn't anyone care about Ukyo? I mean, yeah I was super cruel to her, but she's actually one of my top five favorite female characters (Akane being number one, of course!)

Sheesh...I hope something dramatic happens in the next chapter...I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired of all this running around...I wonder what I should do next...? (I think most of the next chapter will be focused on what Luan Ma's doing, dont'cha think? :)

Review please!

~Hannahkimi


	6. Thursday and Friday

**Summary: **A Halloween Special! Happosai's plan for revenge goes wrong, and the Tendo's end up with TWO Ranma's! With one Ranma committing evil deeds and the other self-inflicting pain trying to stop him, what is Akane to do when the former comes after her next?  
**Rating:** T **Warning: **Heavy Lime ahead; read with caution!  
**Chapter Six: **Thursday and Friday

* * *

Thursday, October 29th 11:37 P.M.

Akane and Ranma had stayed in her room after breakfast. Luan Ma hadn't returned yet and Akane could feel the nagging feeling called worry when she walked outside to get the mail.

"He'll be fine, 'Kane," Ranma said bitterly. He was sitting on her bed rereading one of his old manga's again. "He's _me_."

"But it snowed seventeen inches last night," Akane said. She took a peek outside her window, which was shut tightly. "What if he catches a cold, or something, and can't make it back?"

"C'mon, Akane," Ranma said skeptically. "You _know_ I don't get colds very often. Stop worrying…" Ranma shook his head and refocused on his manga.

"I guess…" Akane said as she closed the curtain. She walked to her closet and opened several drawers, pulling out random pieces of clothing. Ranma watched her from his bed, wondering if she was about to undress in front of him. He smirked and opened, about to ask when she said, "Can you leave? I want to change into some warmer clothes."

Akane could feel the glare Ranma was sending her from her bed.

"Don't you remember what we talked about?" he said scathingly. "I can't leave you alone when Luan Ma is running around somewhere! Who knows if he left the house at all?"

Akane scoffed and pointed at him. "Oh, get over it, Ranma! I know how you feel about me now, you know!"

Ranma reared back so quickly that his head actually hit the wall. "What the hell does that mean?"

"You're a pervert," Akane said bluntly. She wasn't even looking at him when she said it…and she wasn't blushing either. Ranma, on the other hand, turned a bright red.

"I—I am _not_!" he stuttered.

Akane sighed. "Ranma, we've been over this!" she cried. "You _obviously_ saw him kiss me on the cheek this morning; you even got jealous over it! Over _yourself_!"

"Stop being stupid, tomboy!" Ranma said. "I don't have to be jealous over anything!"

"Exactly! So leave!"

"I said no! Besides, you've changed with me in the room before, so what difference does it make?" Ranma stood from the bed and walked over to her while her back was turned. He stood behind her with his arms crossed, watching as she dug through her drawers. Akane gave an exasperated sigh and turned to force him out of her room when she ran straight into his chest. He smirked down at her and wrapped his arms around her small form, pinning her arms to her side. "What're you going to do about it now, tomboy?" he whispered huskily, grinning as she blushed.

Akane smirked into his chest. Two can play at this game.

Ever so slowly, Akane lifted her leg higher and higher upon Ranma's thigh until it rested at his hip. Then, she purposefully pressed her chest against him before using her leg, which was now wrapped around his waist, to pull his hips closer to hers, smiling sweetly as he groaned lowly.

"You're right…" she whispered seductively. She wiggled her upper body, trying to free her arms and unintentionally pressing her soft chest tighter against his. Once her arms were free, she wrapped one around his neck and placed the other on his pectoral, almost gasping in awe as he flexed. "If fact…" she started. "Why don't you take them off _for _me? With your _teeth_."

Ranma snapped and pushed her roughly against her dresser, ignoring her small gasp of surprise as he tore at her silky pajama top. But the cloth kept slipping right through his fingers, so he finally decided to just lift it above her head. He threw the top to the ground and pulled her back to his body, one hand on her lower back and the other cupping her neck and pulling her to him.

He kissed her so passionately that Akane became dizzy with desire and kissed him back with as much force. Her leg, which was still wrapped around his waist, was kept there by Ranma's straying hands. The other appendage strayed lower and stroked her bottom for a while before grabbing the other leg and pulling it up to join the other around his waist, lifting Akane from the floor completely, their lips still in contact.

Akane struggled with the buttons to his shirt, trying desperately to reach the muscles under it, but after five seconds with no progress, she finally tore it away from him and let it fall to the ground to join her shirt.

Ranma chuckled at her ferocity, not even caring that she just destroyed his favorite shirt. He pressed her tightly against her dresser, pulling back from his kiss when her head fell back against the top and she groaned loudly. He then proceeded to attack her neck, showering her with kisses and sharp nibbles that had her hips bucking against his. He grinned roguishly against her skin and rocked his hips back and forth, creating a burning friction between their intimate areas.

"Oh, Ranma," Akane gasped, clutching at his shoulders. His hips jerked against hers as his name rolled off her tongue, causing her whole body to convulse in pleasure.

"Again…" he whispered harshly in her ear. He slapped her on the buttocks and continued to rock against her, so quickly that the dresser behind her knocked into the wall. "Say it again."

"Ranma…" she repeated, her nails creating welts in his bare skin as the feelings took control of her.

"Louder…" he spoke, slapping her bottom again.

"Ranma!"

Suddenly the whole world was white, and Ranma woke up to Akane, who was shaking his shoulders.

"Wake up, Ranma!" Akane said. "C'mon, its already noon!"

Ranma shot up in his futon in a frenzy before shaking his head violently. "Akane? What the hell…?"

"You came back up after breakfast and fell asleep…" Akane said. "You missed lunch, so I was going to let you sleep, but then it sounded like you were having some sort of nightmare…"

Ranma stared at her before looking down at his pants. Luckily, the blanket had bunched up around his waist and completely hid his excitement. He nodded quickly, trying to control the raging blush that creeped up his face.

"What was it about? It sounded like you were moaning in pain or something…"

Ranma would have laughed at that if it weren't for the embarrassing situation he was caught in. That really was painful, and the pain hadn't receded from that one important place of his anatomy yet.

"It was nothing," Ranma said, crossing his legs and pulling the blanket tighter around his waist to give the impression that he was cold. Akane got a worried look on her face and stood.

"Are you cold?" she asked. Before he could answer, she pulled the blankets from her bed and wrapped it around his shoulders before pushing him back to lie down. Ranma complied, slightly reluctant, but not wanting her to get suspicious, and curled into the fetal position immediately.

"Are you feeling okay? You're awfully red…" she said softly. Ranma's eyes widened when she pressed her hand to his forehead, the touch sending electric jolts down to a place that he _definitely_ didn't want more stimulated than it already was.

"I—I'm fine!" he said, a bit too quickly. "J—just a little more sleep and I'll be fine, I swear!"

"But what about lunch?" Akane prodded. "Want me to bring you up some?"

"N—no…I'll come down later…" Ranma answered, trying to ignore his stomach as it grumbled.

Akane finally relented and pulled her hand back. "All right, I'll leave you alone now. Just yell for me if you need anything, okay?" At his quick nod, Akane finally stood and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Ranma listened closely as her footsteps died away in the hall. Once they disappeared completely, he threw the covers off his sweltering body and stared down at himself.

The tent in his pants was now painfully obvious. Ranma took a deep breath and groaned in irritation, not daring to even _think_ of taking care of the problem himself in case Akane came back up to check on him.

Ranma briefly wondered what the result would be in that situation…He shook his head violently, deciding that the visual images were _not_ helping him.

He stood up, wincing slightly as his tight pants made sudden movements painful. Ranma wondered if a cold shower would help his problem, and quickly decided that he had no other choice. This was not going to disappear any time soon.

He opened Akane's door and poked his head outside, making sure that no one was in the hall. After assuring himself it was clear, he tiptoed to the furo, stripped himself of all clothing, and turned on the cold water to the coldest temperature and let it poor over his body. The change came immediately and Ranma-chan turned the hot water on in the large tub, but thought better of it. Deciding not to turn back male (in case his excitement still showed), Ranma-chan attempted to find a clean towel to dab herself dry, but found none. She sighed irritably. She was about to get dressed when there was another knock on the door.

"Ranma? Are you in there?"

Ranma-chan panicked. It was Akane.

"I—I—" the redhead sputtered, looking around wildly for a spare towel, even if it was dirty, and completely forgot her clothes was lying next to the sink. "Hang on!"

"I heard the shower turn on and assumed you were in there…but why are you still a girl?" Akane continued when Ranma-chan didn't answer. "Anyway, there aren't anymore towels, so here—" Akane opened the door and came in, slightly surprised when Ranma-chan squeaked in shock. "Its all right," Akane said. "You're a girl, aren't you? Here," Akane came closer to hand Ranma-chan the towel, but slipped on some of the water that was splattered across the floor. She fell with a surprised gasp, but Ranma-chan dove for her, and caught her just in time before she hit the tiled floor, but ended up slipping herself. The resulting momentum had them both sliding towards the bath, their arms pin-wheeling for balance until they fell into the warm water.

"Stupid klutz!" Ranma insulted, sitting up with Akane in his lap. "Don't you know its slippery in here?"

Akane sat up and glared at him. "I'm _sorry_," she said sarcastically. "I was just trying to help!"

It was Ranma's turn to be sarcastic. "Thanks for the _help_," he said. "Now I'm _male_ again, damn it!"

Akane reared back and stared at him strangely.

"Don't you _want_ to be male?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" Ranma answered, slightly forgetting whom he was speaking to. "But not right _now_!" He attempted to stand up with Akane still in his lap and regretted it immediately. The movement had caused his erection to rub against the crotch of Akane's panties. Akane gasped loudly in result.

Thy both froze, huge blushes forming on their faces. Ranma looked down through the water, trying to see the position, but Akane's billowing skirt floated in the way and blocked his view. However, he had a pretty good feeling that the tip was pressed right against his fiancées entrance.

Feeling slightly dizzy, Ranma tried to pull back, but ended up jerking his hips forward at the resulting pleasure that shot through him.

"Ah—" Akane gasped again. She placed her hands on his shoulder and breathed heavily, her eyes closed. Ranma stared at her; his eyes wide open as he relived his dream. The thought sent his eyes rolling heavenward as he grabbed her hips and pulled her flush against him, groaning loudly as he rocked her against his hips, her lacy panties creating a burning friction.

Ranma stroked her clothed breast with one hand and kept the other situated on her hip, panting slightly when Akane threw her head back and moaned. Eyes rolling to the back of his head, Ranma pinched her nipple through the cloth and nearly exploded as she yelped his name in pleasure.

"Ranma!"

He grinned at her and pinched himself hard on the leg, the grin widening at the pain. This was no dream.

Akane bit her lip hard, her whole being concentrated on that one spot between her legs that Ranma was thrusting himself against. Breathing heavily through her mouth, she gripped his shoulders tightly, resisting the urge to rub her hands against those godly pectorals of his and focused on the ringing bells in her head.

Shaking her head violently, and getting drops of water everywhere, Akane slapped Ranma on the cheek and pulled away, sitting on the opposite side of the tub.

The stared at each other then, Ranma holding his cheek and Akane resting her hand over her erratically beating heart.

"What was that for?" Ranma asked after he regained some of his breath. Akane didn't answer and closed her eyes instead, trying to erase the image of him under her. She heard the loud sloshing of water and opened her eyes again, only to find the golden tan of Ranma's chest. He grabbed her and pushed her against the wall and gently pressed their hips together, bucking slightly. "Answer me…"

Akane chuckled slightly. "Pervert," she commented before pulling his head to hers and kissing him harshly. They kissed for a long while, both of them breathing through their nose. But finally, Akane broke away and climbed out of the furo, ringing her dress of as much water as she could. Ranma sat back and watched her with half-lidded eyes.

"I'm glad you got over your little fear of intimacy," Akane joked. Then, she left the furo all together, leaving Ranma to himself.

Ranma looked down at his excitement through the water and grinned to himself.

oOo

Thursday, October 29th 3:07 P.M.

Luan Ma wondered around the streets of Nerima, examining the neighbor's houses with amusement. Most people had decorated their homes for the upcoming holiday; Halloween. He observed some of the more extravagantly decorated houses; one of them even had a coffin and several smoke machines on the front lawn.

Deciding that it might be time to get some business done, Luan Ma strolled over to Ukyo's Okonomiyaki restaurant and quickly noted the 'closed' sign. Ignoring it, Luan Ma knocked loudly on the door. When no one answered, he grabbed the spare key from above the doorframe and unlocked it himself. He slid the door shut loudly behind him, making sure to alert the chef of his entrance.

The said chef came sprinting down the stairs, spatula in hand.

"Damn burglars," she muttered. She paused in mid-step when she saw him before recoiling. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing here?" Ukyo hissed, holding her spatula protectively in front of her. "Get out before I call the cops for breaking and entering!"

Luan Ma chuckled before gesturing to all the open windows. "Does it look like I broke anything?" he asked. Then, he held up the spare key in front of him and shook it dauntingly.

"You bastard…" Ukyo snarled. "What do you want?"

Luan Ma smirked. "I'm sensing some bad vibes from you, _U-chan_. You're not _mad_ at me, are you?"

Ukyo clutched her spatula so hard that it began to bend in her hands.

"Lets cut to the chase," Luan Ma continued. "The engagements off." Luan Ma was slightly surprised when Ukyo laughed.

"Good," she said. She smiled darkly at him, despite the tears brimming in her eyes. "Who'd want to marry a monster like you anyway?"

Luan Ma smirked. "Go by the Cat Café tomorrow afternoon," he said. "You might want to speak with Cologne about something." Then, he tossed the keys to her, laughing when she stepped aside to avoid it like it was contaminated before leaving the restaurant.

Luan Ma laughed loudly when Ukyo's cries of distress made it to his ears, then made his way to visit the Amazon's.

He was glad that the restaurant was still closed when he arrived. He didn't really want to attract unneeded attention from the customers as he explained the reason for his presence.

Luan Ma raised his hand, preparing to knock, when the door suddenly opened before he had the chance. That didn't stop him from knocking on Mousse's forehead though. Mousse slapped his hand away and fixed his glasses, glaring at him.

"Ranma?" he asked.

"Luan Ma," Luan Ma corrected. "Are Cologne and the cat here? I need to speak with all three of you."

Slightly surprised, Mousse nodded and stepped aside, letting him in. Upon entrance, Luan Ma found the aged Amazon and her great granddaughter sitting at one of the tables sipping tea.

Shampoo jumped up; excited to greet her airen, but Cologne knocked her legs out from under her with the staff.

"I assume you don't want her too close to you?" Cologne asked, her large eyes narrowed as Luan Ma fixed the purple-haired girl with a warning glare.

"Keep the girl away," Luan Ma muttered. He took a seat beside the old ghoul and motioned Mousse to sit next to him. Luan Ma opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Cologne.

"Let me guess," she said, sipping almost nonchalantly at her tea. "You're here to officially break off the engagement."

Luan Ma nodded, smirking. "Do you know why? Or should I tell you?"

"Now that Ranma acknowledges his hatred for cats through you, you both feel that you might attack Shampoo if she transforms, is that correct?"

"Dead on, ghoul," Luan Ma said. He turned to Mousse. "She's all yours, pal." Shampoo stood up to protest but was knocked back down to her seat.

"Keep silent," Cologne ordered. Luan Ma chuckled as Shampoo solemnly nodded her head.

"Not only that," he murmured. "I won't forgive you for ruining my wedding."

"But Shampoo only save airen from kitchen-destroyer! She trick you into marriage, yes?" Shampoo said weakly. She jumped when Luan Ma stood, his aura clouding the restaurant menacingly.

"Watch your mouth when you're talking about my fiancée," he whispered dangerously, his fists clenched.

"I told you to keep silent, girl!" Cologne reprimanded. She turned to Luan Ma and urged him back into his seat. It took several calming gestures until he slowly lowered back into the chair, but his aura never vanished.

"You know that it was Akane's _mother's_ wedding dress you destroyed?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Shampoo is sorry," Cologne answered quickly, clearly wanting to avoid any repenting topic. "But I'm afraid, Luan Ma," she said, "that Shampoo will not be welcome home without Ranma as her husband—"

"Well that's just too bad," Luan Ma said, smirking.

"But," Cologne continued calmly. "I am still hoping to at least obtaining his seed. Seducing _you_ will definitely be problem, but Ranma will be fine until your forms merge again—" Cologne was cut off by another loud chuckle from Luan Ma.

"Don't think that _I_ didn't think about that, woman," he said. "I sent my other half a partying gift late this morning. He won't be cheating on Akane anytime soon."

Cologne laughed full heartedly, ignoring Shampoo as she gasped loudly and Mousse as he did a silent cheer.

"I severely underestimated you," Cologne said. "I never knew that Ranma could be _smart_!"

Luan laughed along with her. "It's obviously something he doesn't show very often."

Cologne sighed loudly and rubbed her temples. "I admit," she said, "you've certainly got us in a fix…But don't think we've given up, _son-in-law_."

Luan Ma's laughter died quickly. He smirked at the three of them and got up, obviously preparing got leave.

"I'm warning you now," he said softly as he opened the door. "Try to take Akane away from me, and I'll hunt your entire tribe down and kill them all in front of you. Remember, Cologne, you said yourself that I'm a living representation of what Ranma feels…and he's been wanting to get rid of you for a _long_ time…" Cologne felt her blood run cold as Luan Ma grinned at them, purposefully showing off his sharp incisor.

"Oh," he added. "Ukyo might come by tomorrow afternoon…she'll want some answers."

Luan Ma finally stepped into the light of the sun and vanished.

oOo

Friday, October 30th 8:52 A.M.

Akane woke up for her morning jog a little late the next morning. She instinctively looked down on the ground for Ranma before she got out of bed, just in case she stepped on him again, but then remembered that he had moved back into his own room after the bathroom incident.

She blushed at the memory and sighed, feeling slightly lonely. She got up and quickly stripped herself of her nightclothes before walking to her closet. She pulled out her running outfit and set them on her bed, just about to put them on when the wind caressed her skin.

Surprised, Akane walked to her window and found it shut and locked. She sighed again.

"You're back?" she called. Luan Ma appeared in front of her, his eyes scanning her form appreciatively.

"Is this my welcome home gift?" he smirked at her as she blushed and hurriedly dressed.

"Pervert…" Akane muttered, still red in the face.

"It's who I am, 'Kane," Luan Ma murmured. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him until her back was pressed tight against his chest. He latched his mouth onto her neck and sucked, his tongue stroking her skin repeatedly.

Akane moaned and arched into him, but suddenly pulled away, bright red in the face.

"I got enough of this from Ranma," she said. She then pulled on some socks and then sat down on her bed to tie on her running shoes.

"You're going out for a jog in this weather?" Luan Ma asked, slightly concerned.

"What? It isn't snowing anymore, and its kind of bright outside," Akane retorted. Luan Ma snorted at her.

"Just because its _bright_ doesn't mean its _warm_," he said crossly, Akane ignored him and continued tying her shoe. "You'll get sick again," he protested. When she still didn't listen to him, he reached for her arm. "Damn it, listen to—"

Akane looked up when he cut himself off, concerned to find him staring at his hands.

"What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Luan Ma continued to stare at his hands, his eyes narrowed. "Damn…" he cursed. He reached for her again, this time to cup her face. Akane waited for the touch, but didn't feel anything.

She lifted her hands and pressed them against his abdomen, gasping when they sank through his seemingly solid form.

"W—what's happening?" she stuttered, her eyebrows furrowing to create her worried expression.

"Don't worry," Luan Ma soothed. "Everything will be back to normal soon…"

Akane choked at that, tears forming in her eyes. Luan Ma chuckled and caressed her hair, even though she couldn't feel it.

"Don't cry, tomboy," he said humorously. "You know I'm just going to be part of Ranma again."

"I—I know…" Akane breathed. She gave a mirthless laugh. "But I usually never see this side of him." Besides this morning, she left out.

"If I'm not mistaken, you will some significant changes…" Luan Ma ended his sentence with groping Akane's breast. Instead of getting mad, Akane laughed, Luan Ma along with her. "I'm going to go now," Luan Ma said. Akane nodded and watched sadly as her fiancée disappeared. "Trust me," Akane heard his voice echo in the room. "You'll see more of me later, but there's just one more thing I need to take care of."

Before Akane could answer, a knock on her door distracted her.

"Akane!" Kasumi's voice called through the door. "Breakfast will be ready soon, so you should go on your run now so that when you come home it'll be hot!"

"All right," Akane said back. She took one last look around the room, as if searching for Luan Ma before she left the haven and shut the door lightly behind her.

oOo

Friday, October 30th 10:16 A.M.

Ranma was pissed that Akane had left without telling him where she was going first, even if it was only one of her usual jobs. The first thing he did when he woke up was go to her room, and seeing her bed empty shot huge amounts of adrenalin through his system. He nearly tore up the entire house searching for her until Kasumi told him what Akane was doing.

Ranma groaned in irritation and sank to the floor, suddenly really exhausted. "Damn that girl…" he muttered. He waited for her by the entrance, squinting because of all the white snow.

When Akane came jogging through the gateway, she didn't even have time to make it to the house when Ranma grabbed her and forced her to look at him. He kissed her hard and melded their bodies together, trying to make it so that she could never go anywhere without him.

Akane moaned loudly and didn't even resist when his tongue ran over her lips. She opened them and Ranma instantly claimed her mouth. The passion increased with each second until Akane was forced to pull back for air. Ranma's lips followed her, but Akane giggled and turned her head so he kissed her cheek. He grinned at her and pulled back.

"You scared me this morning when I found your bed empty, you know," Ranma stated, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Scared?" Akane asked. "Ranma…You've been really moody lately," she said.

Ranma froze, his mood shifting from his passion to skeptical disbelief. "I have not."

"Yes, you have," Akane giggled again, staring at him apologetically. "Ever since I left you—er—_hanging_ in the bathtub yesterday," she said softly. Ranma blushed slightly and glared at her.

"Well then, what do you expect?" Ranma asked. He ran his hands over her bottom and squeezed. Akane gasped and slapped them away, looking around to make sure no one saw.

"Stop being so perverted!" she hissed. Ranma grinned at her.

"Tonight," he whispered gently, cupping her face and forcing her eyes up to his. "Tonight, I'll force the whole family out of the house and make you dinner…"

"Oh, Ranma…" Akane sighed, closing her eyes at the thought. She snapped them open and glared at him. "You're just doing that so _I_ don't make dinner, aren't you?"

Ranma laughed and pressed his lips against her forehead. "No," he answered. "I just want to do this for you…"

"Oh," she said, slightly startled. Then she smiled sweetly at him. Ranma felt his heart rate pick up as a result. "That's so romantic…" Akane sighed. He grinned heartily at her and led her in the house, not noticing Kasumi as she sped back to the kitchen from one of the windows, giddy.

She watched as Ranma led Akane further upstairs and smiled. _Finally_, her baby sister was allowing Ranma to court her. Holding in a loud squeal of excitement, she quickly set the table for breakfast.

Upstairs, Ranma quietly led Akane into her room and shut the door softly behind them. Akane stared at him, wondering what he was doing when he pushed her back onto the bed and began to unzip her running jacket. He pulled it off her and tugged up her sweater, pausing when Akane's hands stopped his own.

"What're you doing?" she gasped. Ranma kissed her softly, grinning against her lips.

"Getting my fiancée dressed for the day…" he whispered roughly. He pulled her sweater over her head and looked down, prepared for an eyeful of skin and a lacy bra when all he found was another piece of clothing. He groaned in irritation. "How many shirts do you wear?"

Akane giggled and pushed him off her. "It was cold outside," she defended, walking to her dresser. Ranma took her place on the bed and leaned back, staring at her as she swayed her hips purposefully. Akane looked back at him. "You can help me pick out what to wear, if you like," she said.

Ranma was at her side in seconds and rummaging wildly through her drawers and closet. "Aha!" she heard him cheer. He pulled back out and Akane blushed at the clothing he shoved at her.

It was the lingerie that Kasumi and Nabiki had bought for her the day before her wedding. It was a bright red cloth; being as the two knew that red was Ranma's favorite color. The top was a thin, see through corset while the bottom resembled some of those female boxer shorts…although a lot tighter.

Ranma pressed it against her body, grinning suggestively at her, but Akane smacked him hard on the chest and threw the lingerie back into her closet.

"I am not wearing that!" Akane almost yelled. Ranma feigned hurt from her slap and smirked at her. But before he could answer, a loud yell from downstairs caught his attention.

"Breakfast!"

Seconds later, there was a loud rumbling as Soun, Genma, and Happosai all raced to the table first, the house shaking slightly.

Akane felt the wind caress her face as Ranma sped out of the room to join them and laughed as she heard Genma yell at the boy for stepping on his face. When she finally finished dressing, she went downstairs and ate her breakfast with everyone.

When they were eating, Kasumi set her bowl down and waited for everyone's attention to be on her before speaking.

"I think we should go to the bath houses tonight." It came out more as a demand than anything else. Ranma and Akane glanced worriedly at each other, thinking about their plans. Akane was about to protest when Kasumi winked at her. Eyes wide in realization, Akane nodded at Ranma and continued to eat.

"I'll go if Akane-chan goes," Happosai said immediately, dodging a punch from Ranma.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Genma and Soun said together. Nabiki nodded her head and Nodoka smiled in acknowledgement. Kasumi grinned at Ranma and Akane, who nodded their heads in thanks.

Again, the pair spent the entire day together, but the sun couldn't have gone by slower. They lounged around the TV most of the day, waiting for sunset, when everyone would leave.

"What about dinner?" Akane asked Kasumi before they left.

"We'll go out for that," Kasumi answered. She gave the two knowing smiles. "You two be good while we're gone, all right? We'll be back in a couple of hours."

They both nodded and watched as Soun and Genma hauled Happosai towards the bath, trying to console to him that there were plenty of other women to stare at naked besides Akane.

Finally, they had the entire house to themselves. Ranma placed his hands on Akane's shoulders and rubbed them, whispering softly in her ear.

"Go back to watching TV and relax," he said softly, turning her towards the dining room where the television was. He gave her a small pat on the behind to push her inside. "Dinner will be ready soon."

"Hang on," Akane said. "This sweater is kind of itchy…I'm going upstairs to change."

Ranma nodded at her and watched her trot up the stairs, smirking at the view he got of her legs from under her skirt. He turned and walked into the kitchen, wondering where Kasumi put the stir-fry recipe. He found it already on the counter, along with the ingredients, most of which were already chopped or sliced. Ranma smiled and reminded himself to thank Kasumi when she got home.

After nearly an hour of doing everything on the recipe list, Ranma called Akane back down for dinner. He served the dish onto both plates, along with rice, and prepared to walk back through the hall to the dining room. He placed the food on the table, along with chopsticks and two cups for drinks.

"Akane!" he called again.

"I'm here, Ranma…" came Akane's voice from behind him. Ranma turned, his jaw dropping and eyes widening.

Akane stood there in the red lingerie he had teased her with earlier. She held her arms crossed over her chest and her legs closed tightly together. She bit her lip and avoided his eyes, a staining blush on her cheeks.

"Whoa…" Ranma gasped, his eyes scanning her form up and down. He gulped loudly, feeling his blood rushing south again.

Without a second thought, Ranma grabbed Akane by the waist and sat her down on the low table, clearing off all the food and not caring that it fell in a mess on the floor. Akane gasped when Ranma pushed her back onto the wood and climbed on top of her, kissing her neck up to her mouth.

Akane cried in pleasure as he pinched her nipple through the corset and bucked her hips up towards him. Ranma gasped and pulled back from his kiss before cramming his head between her soft breasts. Akane giggled at this and arched her back.

"Do you like it?" she asked softly. Ranma hastily spread her legs and situated himself between them, thrusting his hips against her core.

"Love it," he gasped. He pulled back and grinned at her, neither of them noticing that his incisors were longer than normal. "But I want it off you…" he said seductively, pressing his hand against her entrance.

Akane panted loudly and bucked her hips again, crying out as the friction stimulated her core. She moaned in protest when he removed his hand, but the sound turned into one of pleasure as his mouth latched on to her clothed nipple, his tongue circling the very tip. Then, he slowly moved downward, leaving a trail of kisses around her naval until he reached her center.

He grinned roguishly and kissed her clothed nether regions, using his hands to press against her hips so she wouldn't buck too hard.

Akane felt her head fall back and ran her hands over her body, stopping at her breast. She toyed with them before pulling down the straps from her shoulders and removing the cloth instantly. Then, she sat up, forcing Ranma away, and fumbled around with his shirt. He pulled it off for her before forcing her back on the table and pressing his hips against hers again.

Akane groaned as his erection poked at her entrance. Both of them rocked their hips, glad for the friction of their clothing, yet annoyed it was there. Finally, Ranma pulled back and hooked his fingers over the elastic band of her boxer shorts. He nuzzled her abdomen as he slowly pulled them down, but froze when he heard the front door open.

"We're home!"

Both Ranma and Akane shot up from the table, panicking. Akane grabbed for her lingerie top and tried to pull it back on, but found it was too difficult in her rush. Ranma then grabbed his Chinese button up and wrapped her in it before shoving her out the opposite door to the koi pond, knowing that the family wouldn't walk around that way to get to the dining room.

"I'll meet you upstairs," he whispered to her huskily. She nodded and hurriedly walked away to the staircase, trying not to make too much noise. Ranma watched her form go, his eyes locked onto her bottom, which the end of his shirt couldn't cover because it was folded under next to her back.

He stared down at himself, noting the enormous tent in his pants. He heard the footsteps come closer and sat down at the table, pulling the heavy blanket over his excitement and pretended to watch TV.

"Oh, my!" Kasumi gasped upon entering the dining room. "Why is the food on the floor?"

Ranma winced, forgetting that he had knocked the food aside in order to make room for him and Akane.

"Don't tell me you two had a fight again, son," Soun said sadly. Ranma nodded immediately.

"Y—yeah—" Ranma agreed. "Stupid tomboy didn't like the fact that I cook better than her."

The entire family situated themselves around the table as Kasumi knelt to pickup the food. Ranma blushed madly as he remembered what he and Akane were about to do on this very table.

"So tell us about your _date_," Nabiki said, smirking.

Ranma groaned in annoyance and stared back down at his covered excitement. This was going to be a _long_ night…

* * *

Hey...sorry for not updating yesterday. Truthfully, I'm getting sick of this story and just want to end it, but only one chapter left! I'll try and get some of it finished today, but I have guests coming over later, since its halloween and all.

Anyway, who's angry that I didn't make Ranma and Akane do it?

Review please,

~Hannahkimi


	7. Halloween Day

**Summary: **A Halloween Special! Happosai's plan for revenge goes wrong, and the Tendo's end up with TWO Ranma's! With one Ranma committing evil deeds and the other self-inflicting pain trying to stop him, what is Akane to do when the former comes after her next?  
**Rating:** M (Rating changed).  
**Chapter Seven: **Halloween Day.

* * *

Saturday October 31st 7:16 A.M.

On Halloween morning, Akane was gently brought out of her slumber with the sensual motions of hands pressing gently on her back. Moaning and smiling into her pillow, Akane lifted her head and stared to her side, where Ranma was sitting on her bed and massaging her back.

"Good morning," he greeted, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

"Mmhmm…" Akane answered, her head falling back into the pillow. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. "Lower."

Ranma chuckled and complied, swiftly transitioning her hands down to her lower back and beginning to knead. "It's time to get up," he said.

Akane shook her head. "Why so early?"

Ranma's hands paused on her back. "Early? Akane, it's already seven twenty. We have to—" Ranma was cut off when Akane suddenly sprang up from bed, shoved him off, and rummaged wildly through her closet.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier, you idiot?" she insulted, nearly tearing her clothes in half with frustration. "We're going to be late for school!"

Ranma stood back up and sat down on her bed, smirking at her.

"It's Saturday," he stated bluntly. "We have to go help Kasumi put up the Halloween decorations."

Ranma nearly laughed in amusement when Akane froze and stared at her uniform, which she was about to pull up her still pajama clothed body. Then, turning slowly, Akane glared at Ranma and tried to punt him out of her room.

"You jerk! Why didn't you say so?"

"I was going to!" Ranma defended. "But you just got up and jumped to conclusions again! It isn't my fault!"

Akane reared back and glared at him, seething. Ranma smirked and pulled her to him, hugging her tightly and whispered in her ear.

"Well, I suppose it might be," he said softly, rubbing his hands up and down her back. "I kept you up pretty late last night…"

Akane shivered and pushed him away, can't helping but love him all over again. "We didn't even do anything last night, idiot. Remember? Everyone came home when we were—well—" Ranma grinned at the blush that rose on her face and pressed his forehead against hers. Wanting to change the subject, Akane shot a question at him. "What took so long, anyway?"

Ranma sighed at the memories of last night and pulled away. "I forgot that Nabiki had a camera hidden somewhere in the dining room, so I spent a lot of time looking for it so I could destroy the evidence after everyone went to sleep."

"Did you find it?"

Ranma pulled out a small tape out of his pocket and smirked at her. "Yeah," he said. Akane lifted an eyebrow at him.

"…What happened to the "destroying the evidence" part?"

Ranma rubbed her backside, grinning as she gasped and slapped him on the chest. "I watched it last night—pretty hot stuff, if you ask me—"

"You _watched_ it?" Akane gasped. Ranma nodded and nuzzled her neck, being sure to hold the tape far enough away that she couldn't reach it. Akane tried to steal it from him anyway and nearly had to climb over his shoulder to reach his arm. But then, he flipped her over onto her bed and climbed over her, grinning cockily.

"You want it?" Ranma asked, waving the tape tauntingly in front of her face and chuckling as Akane's eyes followed its every movement. "Why? So you can watch it?"

Akane scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No! I want it so I can destroy it!"

Ranma pulled back, hurt, and scrambled off her. "…You _really_ want it gone?" he said softly, his eyes wide.

Akane, not fully understanding the importance of the evidence to him, crossed her arms and nodded. "What if someone got their hands on it? It would go all over the internet! And if someone in my family saw us doing _that_—" Akane cut herself off with a terrible blush. Ranma pocketed the tape and climbed over her again.

"We didn't even go all the way," he argued, frowning as he kissed her cheek.

"If our clothes weren't in the way then we would have!" Akane retorted, tilting her head to the side so Ranma could have better access to her neck.

"But we didn't," Ranma said again. He leaned back and pulled her with him before standing with her. "Akane, it isn't anything to be ashamed about—we were just—"

"—_About_ to have sex!" Akane cut off, walking back to her closet. "It'll be dishonorable if I do that with you before marriage, even if we _are_ engaged!"

Ranma paused and just stared at her as she rummaged through her closet again, this time trying to find something warm and comfortable to wear so she could help out with the decorations. Then, walking to the door and opening it, he stepped out just as Akane turned to look at him.

"Fine," he spat coldly, then slammed her door shut.

Akane stared at her door, completely surprised. "What was he so mad about?"

Akane shrugged her shoulders and continued dressing, deciding to inquire Ranma about his difficult behavior after he's calmed down for a bit.

After dressing, Akane stepped out of her room and walked towards the staircase when she ran into Kasumi.

"Akane!" the eldest sister gasped. She smiled sweetly and gabbed Akane's shoulder's, spinning the girl around so she was facing the hall that she just walked down. "Would you be a dear and go wake up Nabiki? I have to go look for extra Halloween decorations in the attic."

Akane nodded dumbly and walked back down the hall she came from, passing her own room and finding Nabiki's just around the corner. With a soft knock, Akane quietly pushed open the doors, surprise filling her when she realized that Nabiki's room was filled with light instead of the usual darkness at this hour in the morning.

"Nabiki?" Akane called tentaviely. Opening the door, Akane took several steps into her older sister's room and closed the door behind her. "Is she even in here?" Akane asked herself, wondering why the room was vacant except for Nabiki's belongings and herself.

"No, but I'm here," said a deep, husky voice from behind her. Akane yelped in surprise and spun around, coming face-to-face with a near transparent Luan Ma.

"L—Luan Ma!" Akane gasped, placing a hand over her racing heart. Luan Ma smirked at her, looked down at his see-through body, and back up at her.

"In the flesh," he joked.

"What're you doing here?" Akane asked. Luan Ma gave her a hurt look; Akane was reminded of Ranma just a couple of minutes earlier.

"What? You're not happy to see me?" he asked. Before Akane could answer, Luan Ma swiftly stepped around her and sat on Nabiki's chair, motioning her to follow. Akane complied and sat next to him on Nabiki's bed. A short pause followed in which Luan Ma studied Akane carefully and said girl blushed under the scrutiny.

"I'm angry with you, 'Kane," Luan Ma said finally.

Akane gave him a startled look. "Why?"

"Why?" Luan Ma repeated, almost sarcastically. When Akane nodded, he turned towards Nabiki's computer and typed so quickly on the keyboard that his fingers looked like blurs. He pulled up a large screen on the computer and motioned Akane closer to him, the pointed at the monitor and pressed a button.

It took Akane a minute to realize that the movie that was playing was the recording from last night. With a staining blush on her cheeks, Akane jumped towards the computer and pressed the button to stop the clip before closing out the application.

"Why do you have that?" Akane demanded. Luan Ma waved his hand dismissively.

"It isn't mine," he said. "This is Nabiki's."

Akane's face paled and Luan Ma gave a mirthless laugh.

"B-But I thought that Ranma took the recording last night—"

"He did, but everything recorded in the house is automatically saved into Nabiki's computer—"

"S—So she's already—"

"No," Luan Ma interrupted. "She decided not to check last night after Ranma told her that all you two did was fight—she believed him and just went straight to bed."

Akane sighed in relief, and then tensed up again, a stinging realization hitting her.

"Wait a second," Akane said, pointing to the computer. "Does that mean that Ranma snuck into Nabiki's room last night to watch the tape?"

Luan Ma anwered before a wave of panic and anger could wash over his fiancée. "No, no," he said. "He didn't need a computer; the video camera that Nabiki used to record can do immediate playbacks."

"Oh," Akane said dumbly. She game him a thoughtful look. "Then what are you mad about?"

"I'm mad because you want me to destroy it!" Luam Ma said angrily, gesturing to the computer. He stood up so quickly that Akane' fell back on Nabiki's bed in surprise. He slowly climbed over her, forcing her to lie flat on her back, and gently cupped her face in his hands, both of them ignoring the fact that neither could feel the other. "Do you really want to destroy evidence of our love?"

Akane gave him a soft smile. "There will be plenty of other chances for us to make memories regarding our love. After all, we're getting married, right?" She gave him an uncertain look.

"Of course we are!" Luan Ma exclaimed hotly. He sighed and closed his eyes. Akane gave him a worried look. "Don't you understand, Akane?" he said hoarsely. "Sometimes, it feels like my love for you is just another fantasy, and that tape is the only thing that proves to me that it's real; that you've really accepted this damn curse I have…Please, don't take this away from me."

"Luan Ma…" Akane gasped, stunned. She had no idea that he felt so deeply about this. Her conflicted feelings sprang into overdrive in that moment, arguing with one another about what to do; if she let Ranma keep it, then he would be happy, which meant the world to her. However, if she didn't get rid of it and someone found out that she was committing such dishonorable acts without being married first, despite the fact that she was engaged, then Akane would be disowned; shunned out of her own house.

Akane rubbed her temples, her thoughts giving her a straining headache. Then, she decided to reduce the problem to simpler terms.

Ranma's happiness or her reputation?

Well, that was easy, Akane thought. Realizing slowly that Luan Ma was waiting for an answer, Akane nodded her head and smiled at his answering grin.

"I'd kiss you right now, but…" he trailed off and gestured to his transparent body. Akane giggled and sat up as Luan Ma moved towards Nabiki's window. He lifted the curtain and sighed. "Who would go trick-or-treating in this weather?" he asked, more to himself than Akane, who also walked over to the window.

If it weren't for the Halloween decorations she saw hanging from the edge of the roof, Akane would have thought that it was already Christmas; a huge blanket of snow covered every surface so the world visible to Akane through the window looked more like a Winter Wonderland.

"Wow!" Akane gasped. "I've never seen so much snow before…"

Luan Ma smiled grimly, avoiding her gaze. Before she could ask, Luan Ma's mood flipped and he grinned happily at her. "I still have something I need to take care of before I leave."

"What is it?" Akane asked.

"You'll see," Luan Ma said off-handedly. "I just hope I have enough time…" he added softly, making sure that Akane couldn't hear him.

They both stood there for nearly a minute, gazing at the layers of snow. Then, Luan Ma walked back to the computer, pressed some buttons, and nodded at Akane, who looked puzzled.

"I just deleted the movie from the computer," he said, walking back to the window and opening it slightly. "Now the only evidence is in the tape that Ranma has."

"I suppose I should go and talk to him about that…" Akane murmured.

Luan Ma nodded and jumped on the window sill, using his body to block the heavy wind from touching Akane. "But he'll probably know about it through this talk we had," Luan Ma said, grinning at her.

Akane gave him a sad look. "How long will you be gone this time?" She asked, leaning towards him.

Luan Ma smiled at her, then, without answering, closed the window and vanished from sight, leaving Akane to stare out of the window, suddenly lonely.

oOo

"Ah-choo!" Kasumi sneezed into a napkin and wiped her nose daintily. "Excuse me…" she said softly. Every member of the family had worry lines creasing their forehead.

"Kasumi, dear," Soun said, reaching out a hand and rubbing her back comfortingly. "Are you sick, too?"

"It's just a small cold, father," Kasumi answered, trying to sound normal through a stuffed nose.

"Nonsense!" Soun cried. Hauling Kasumi over his shoulder ("Oh, my!" she squeaked), he marched up the stairs and carefully laid Kasumi on her bed and pulled covers up to her chin. "I don't want the same thing that happened to Akane to happen to you," Soun explained. He turned to the door, where he found the family waiting. "Nabiki," he addressed the middle Tendo daughter. "Go fetch some extra blankets out of the closet! Ranma, make some hot tea! Akane, get an ice pack out of the fridge. Everyone else, leave Kasumi alone so she can rest!" he ordered quickly.

Nabiki, Ranma, and Akane quickly dashed off to do what they were told. Genma, Nodoka, and Happosai treaded back to the dining room and sat around the table.

"Oh, father," Kasumi said, exasperated. "I still have lunch to make for everyone!" She tried to sit up, but Soun placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back down.

"Listen to your father, Kasumi. You need to rest," he said sternly. Then, not knowing what he was saying, added, "Akane can make lunch…" He didn't notice the depression that befell Ranma, Nabiki and Akane as they walked back in with the requested supplies, most likely because Akane's happiness weighed out the balance.

Without waiting for acknowledgement from Soun, Ranma and Nabiki dropped their items ands scrammed, leaving Akane in the dust.

"I have an appointment with a client!" Nabiki said hurriedly, speeding down the hallway. Akane heard her shout "Danger!" to Genma, Happosai, and Nodoka in the family room and sighed. Then, she lifted her head, smiling.

At least she had Ranma—

Akane turned to find her father knealing at her sister's bed, no fiancée to be found. Sighing again, this time in anger, Akane marched downstairs, through the empty living room, and to the kitchen, stomping her feet loudly.

"That jerk!" she muttered angrily. She sighed heavily and crossed her arms. She didn't really know why she was getting angry; after all, the same exact thing had been happening ever since Ranma moved in. Akane shook her head and giggled softly. Of course, Ranma would avoid the house for several hours until he was positive that her food was disposed of. Then, they would fight about her toxic waste, Ranma would say something unusually stupid, she would storm off to her room, and then he would come apologize in the sweetest way imaginable.

Akane giggled again and left the kitchen, deciding that Nodoka might be able to cook something edible when she came back from where she escaped to.

oOo

Saturday, October 31st 11:23 AM.

"Man, that was close!" Ranma gasped. He bent over, his hands on his knees, and panted heavily in a completely over exaggerated way and closed his eyes. His lungs felt quite frozen from the cold air and his legs sunk so far deep into the snow that it was nearly up to his knees; he could feel the condensed water melt away into the souls of his shoes.

Ranma decided to ignore the water, glad that it wasn't enough for him to transform, and snapped his eyes open when he felt something brush against his leg and narrowed into slits at the kitten that was purring at his feet. His hands clenched tightly before he stood upright and forced his feet forward, sudden rage bubbling within him.

He walked slowly and cautiously, his limbs shaking with the urge to do something that he knew he'd regret, but then he heard the soft mewls of the feline and stopped, turned around, and walked back.

He gulped loudly at the sight of the small animal covered in melting snow and shivering at the cold temperatures. Then, cursing, Ranma picked the animal up by its kitten fat, stretched his arm out as far as possible, and walked to a nearby house. His hand was shaking violently, itching to crush the cute little monster, but Ranma held his control, reminding himself that he was no killer of anything.

"Ranma, son!"

Ranma sprang into the air and landed on the top of the gate in his surprise, dropping the kitten into the arms of Soun Tendo before looking at his surroundings and groaning in exasperation; he ran in a huge circle and ended up back home.

Soun spoke again. "What on earth are you doing up there?" he said, and then looked down at the burden in his arms. He grinned brightly at the boy. "You've gotten over your fear of cats!" Soun exclaimed.

Ranma landed swiftly in front of the older man and lifted his eyebrows. "Fear? Nah, I just wannna kill all of them, now," Ranma joked. He felt much more in control now that the fiend was in the hands of something that could restrain it.

"Yes, well," Soun waved his hand dismissively before gesturing inside the house. "I warmed up some leftovers from last night; why don't you go inside and have an early lunch? It's freezing out here…"

"Wait a sec—" Ranma started, holding up his hand. "I thought you told Akane to make lunch—"

"Akane?" Soun paled considerably, a slight tinge of green appearing on his complexion. "Don't be ridiculous! Why would I tell Akane to do something as stupid as that?"

Ranma laughed and shrugged his shoulders before walking inside the house. He heard Soun quickly drop the cat off at a neighboring house ("Hanachiyo! Where have you been?" the old woman next door exclaimed), before trotting back into his own property and sliding the door shut. Ranma was already scarfing down his meal in the dining room, so Soun went upstairs, nearly tripping on his own feet.

Ranma watched him go, his mouth full as the older man went to go check on his oldest daughter. He shivered suddenly as a memory forced it's way into his mind, one he never recalled taking place, and sat quietly for the rest of the evening, pondering.

oOo

Saturday, October 31st 12:30 P.M.

She was there. He knew she would be—after all that's happened in the past week, he knew that she would still want answers, that she was still in love with him.

Luan Ma sighed heavily as he walked back to the Cat Café. Now that he thought about it, he knew that he was a little harsh on his old friend, but she had it coming. He had zero tolerance for any threats against his family—he scoffed suddenly. Screw the threats, Ukyo had outright tried to kill his fiancée—she was lucky that he didn't make her suffer physically on the spot.

When he reached the café, he wasn't surprise to find the 'closed' sign hung above the restaurant. Without knocking, Luan Ma slid the door open and closed it behind him, ignoring the Amazon's and Ukyo as their eyes followed his every movement. Then, nodding his head to Cologne, he pulled up a chair between the old woman and Mousse and leaned back lazily.

"I take it you already told her everything?" he said, grabbing a toothpick and balancing it between his upper lip and nose. "I'm getting tired of explaining all of this again."

Cologne raised her eyebrows at him. "The spell is wearing off?" she asked, ignoring his earlier question.

Luan Ma smirked and gestured to his body, which was becoming more transparent by the second. "I've lost my sense of touch already," he said. He sat upright in his chair and set his face for business before looking at Ukyo, who had her eyes averted. He felt his face fall at the tears that were already trailing down her face. "Ukyo…"

"Don't—" Ukyo interrupted. She gasped suddenly and hurriedly wiped her face. "Ran—Luan Ma—" she corrected. "Everything Cologne said…is it true…?"

Laun Ma gave a slight, almost non-existent nod of his head, as if to ask Cologne what she told the girl, before closing his eyes. "In all honesty, Ukyo, I don't regret what I did."

Ukyo sucked in a breath of air and shuddered almost violently. Luan Ma saw her eyebrows furrow together and her chin tremble slightly. "But you're _my_ fiancée!" she gasped, not noticing Shampoo as she crossed her arms defiantly. She glared hard at him, her face twisted into a snarl. "You—you _owe_ me for the dowry that you stole!"

"I don't _owe_ you anything!" Luan Ma said, wanting to slam his fist onto the table. "Damn it, Ukyo! Don't you think that destroying my _home_ is payment enough? Not to mention trying to kill Akane!"

"I was trying to save you—"

"You were trying to keep me _miserable_!" Luan Ma shouted, overpowering Ukyo in the volume of his voice. "You were trying to keep me from the _only_ thing that I ever wanted for _years_!"

"Then why couldn't you have been _manly_ enough to come and tell me to my face?" Ukyo quipped, fire raging in her eyes. "Why did you keep leading me on if you were going to pick _her_ anyway?"

Luan Ma sighed. "You were my only friend for a long time, Ukyo. My _best_ friend—I didn't want to lose that relationship with you because of some petty engagement—I tried to break it to you as easily and painlessly as I—"

"_Painlessly_?" Ukyo gasped. She heaved a rattling breath before shaking her head at him. "You think that what you did to me was _painless_? Throwing me in front of her family to explain why I tried to _protect_ what was mine?"

"You just caught on a little too late, Ukyo," Luan Ma said plainly. "If you had spent at least half the time picking up on my hints as you did trying to win me over, it would have saved you the humiliation."

"But—but—" Ukyo stuttered, running out of arguments. She clenched and unclenched her fists sporadically, her breath quickening. "But I _love_ you…"

Luan Ma looked her straight in the eye, his face set. "Cologne told you that I express exactly what Ranma feels on the inside," he sad softly. He heard Ukyo gulp heavily, waiting for his next words. "I'm sorry, Ukyo, but…I just can't say the same. After what you tried to do to Akane, I lost all the trust and respect that I had for you."

Cold suddenly swept over Ukyo, and she sat heavily into her chair, sobbing.

oOo

Saturday, October 31st 3:52 P.M.

It was getting late. Ranma was beginning to wonder whether any of the other family members would be coming home soon, but he wasn't worried.

He hadn't bothered to check in on Akane in her room yet; he wasn't sure how to approach her, and was a bit nervous about her reaction once he told her that he didn't destroy the tape, namely because he didn't want to.

But then Ranma thought back to that memory that he soon realized upon further thought had contained Akane and Luan Ma, instead of himself, before grinning smugly, fingering the small piece of technology in his pocket. He stood up from the dining table and was about to hop up the stairs and to Akane's room when Soun popped out of nowhere and shoved him back into the dining room.

"Ranma, are you busy?" Soun said, sounding almost urgent, but not panicked.

Ranma scratched the back of his head and gave the older man a wary look . "Um, actually, I was just about to—"

"Good!" Soun interrupted. He pushed Ranma outside into the biting cold, not minding when the young martial artist tripped over multiple boxes that were sitting out on the patio. "I need you to help me finish up decorating the house for Halloween! I completely forgot about it when I was tending to Kasumi until she reminded me!"

Ranma rolled his eyes and gestured outside, where snow was still sprinkling about, but not as heavily as the night before. "Look around, Mr. Tendo. Does it look like anyone would go trick or treating in this weather?"

Soun smacked Ranma on his back and chuckled. "Have some holiday spirit, son!" he said joyfully. Then, in a matter of seconds, his facial features sank into a heavy scowl and his eyes widened; Ranma could almost feel the angry heat emanating off of him. "Now Kasumi really wanted these decorations to go up, so you will help me, understand?"

Ranma backed away, holding his hands in front of him and nodded hastily. Soun quickly reverted back to his normal attitude and smiled. Ranma hated it when he did that; and he especially hated the fact that this particular trait had been passed down to the middle daughter, something Nabiki abused whenever she wanted something.

"Good! Now I expect that the family won't be home for a while (after all, they do think that Akane's cooking…), so we must work quickly if we want the decorations to be up in time."

Ranma snorted, wanting to remind the man that he didn't even want to do this in the first place, but refrained. "Why isn't Akane helping?" he asked instead. He was actually quite curious about why Akane wouldn't help out; she was always enthusiastic about decorating the house for the holidays. _'Plus,'_ Ranma thought, smirking slightly. _'I might be able to get her alone for a while…_"

"She's taking a nap," Soun answered bluntly as he dug through multiple boxes of carving tools and lights.

Ranma face-faulted and sighed irritably, wondering just how long he'd have to endure this torture until someone came along to relieve him of his suffering.

oOo

Saturday, October 31st 6:57 P.M.

Just where the hell was everybody? Ranma groaned in irritation as Soun chucked another box full of Halloween decorations at him and told him to go hang them over the porch and gate in the entryway. Ranma was about to go do it when a shovel smacked him in the back of the head.

Cursing, Ranma turned around in a flurry of anger just in time to see Soun waving his hand around the corner of the house, saying, "Don't forget to shovel first!"

Muttering obscenities under his breath, Ranma hitched the shovel over his shoulder and stalked to the front of the house, dropped the decorations unceremoniously on to the floor, and began to shovel the snow away from the pathway.

oOo

"I suppose that's it then," Luan Ma said gruffly. He pulled his feet off the table and set his chair down from its tilted position before standing up. It actually felt kind of awkward that he was alone in a room with Cologne. Mouuse and Shampoo were ordered to escort Ukyo home and stay with her for a while. Ukyo adamantly denied that she needed help and that she wouldn't do anything stupid or reckless over _him_, but Cologne eyed the sharp edged spatulas in the sash of Ukyo's uniform, and forced her great granddaughter and her admirer to go anyway.

Luan Ma had to admit that he was a bit worried about what she would do himself. After all, she had wasted _ten_ years of her life looking for him, and for what?

Shaking his head, Luan Ma was about to leave when Cologne's staff shot through his transparent body to get his attention.

"Not so fast, sonny," she said, in an old, tired voice. "We must first discuss the relationship between you and my granddaughter before you depart."

Luan Ma swiped at her staff, ignoring as his hand went right through it, and narrowed his eyes at the Amazon. "I thought I told you that—"

Cologne sighed and massaged her temples. "I know, I know." Then, heaving a large breath, she said, "I am worried about what will happen if Shampoo tries to force herself on you again, seeing that your fear of felines mutated into an unusual rage. I will contact my village tonight and ask the other elders of their thoughts. If they do not approve of revoking the Kiss of Marriage, then unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about it."

Luan Ma nodded and was surprised by his own patience.

"However," she continued. "I will not receive an answer for about a month. Until then, I ask you to please bear with Shampoo if she tries to bother you or Akane again. I will do what I can to stop her, but in this land, she has become quite unpredictable."

Luan Ma's eyes narrowed considerably. "Ghoul, if this is just another scam—"

"It is not," Cologne said sharply, now irritable. She sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm not sure what she plans now, but judging by the way you just broke Ukyo's heart," Cologne ignored the flinch Luan Ma exhibited, "I suspect that Shampoo will be more wary when she is around you and do what she can so you will not annul her love. I will try to keep her around Ukyo so the girl does nothing stupid, but be careful."

Luan Ma stared at her for several more seconds, as if trying to gage her sincerity, but finally nodded and left the restaurant, knowing that Cologne was watching him leave from the entryway.

Quickly hopping over the many houses that resided in Nerima, Luan Ma headed in the direction of his home, where Akane was waiting. He noticed as he flipped over the gate that his other half was stuck shoveling snow, and mentally groaned that he was about to do that, too.

He slipped away unnoticed by Ranma and quickly snuck up to Akane's room, where he knew that she was sleeping. When he was inside, he pulled up her desk chair beside here bed and stared at her through half lidded eyes, a small smile curling at the edges of his lips.

She was sprawled lazily across her bed; her hair was a tousled mess and she had a bit of drool spilling from her open mouth. He thought she had never looked more gorgeous.

He gently brushed his hand against the side of her face and stood, kissing her on the forehead before quickly hopping out of her window into the biting chill and closing her window behind him.

He stared off into the sunset and smiled a boyish smile, breathing deeply to calm his emotions as he finally, finally, became a whole person once more.

oOo

Saturday, October 31st 8:15 P.M.

"Ranma!"

Ranma heard his name being called and turned around to find Soun bundled up in a jacket and scarf.

"What?" Ranma snapped.

The older man ignored the boys tone and gave him a somber expression. "I had hoped that Nodoka would have returned by now to fix us some supper, but I'm afraid that we're going to have to settle for take-out. No one is willing to deliver in this weather, so take care of everything while I'm gone, will you, son?" Soun quickly trotted through the snow-free path and turned down the street.

Ranma felt his eye twitch and refrained from yelling out to the retreating figure that he's been taking care of everything for several hours, being as Ranma had caught Soun lying about in front of the television more than once.

Scoffing, Ranma tossed aside the shovel, then shivered suddenly, feeling an odd sensation fluttering about his body, and now, even stronger than before was the urge to be with Akane.

He bolted into the house when he saw her; the most stunning woman in the world, standing before him with a surprised look in her dazed eyes, with her hair tousled as if she had just finished a good round in bed, and her shorts hiking up higher and higher on her hips as she moved.

They both paused when they saw each other, Ranma in the doorway and Akane halfway down the steps.

Finally, Akane shook her head, and squinted her eyes slightly at him. "Ranma? Is everyone still gone? Kasumi's still sleeping, but—"

Ranma tackled Akane to the staircase, cutting her off as he kissed her harshly and slowly moved his body over hers. Though surprised, Akane accepted him quickly and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, but he pulled them away and held her hands above her head with one hand while the other supported her back from pressing painfully into the edge of the stairs.

He kissed her long and hard with a sort of urgency that Akane found herself worried over. When they broke apart, they both took ragged breaths as Ranma pressed his forehead against hers; wanting nothing more than to be as close to her as possible.

"Ranma?" Akane questioned.

He kissed her again, though this time it was sweet and passionate. He pulled back and nuzzled her neck, breathing heavily as he stroked her side up and down.

"Thank you, Akane," he whispered so softly that Akane almost didn't hear him.

"For what?" Akane asked, completely breathless from his actions.

Ranma didn't answer and instead gently nibbled on the exposed skin of her neck before nuzzling his face between her breasts.

Akane threw her head back and sighed, feeling her body beginning to react to the same intoxicating sensations she had experienced not even a day ago, and wrapped her legs around Ranma's hips.

Ranma tugged up her shirt and rubbed the skin of her stomach, wanting to take his time instead of rushing like they did last night. His hand slowly trailed up her torso until her reached the delicious curve of her breast, and he found himself quickly annoyed that her bra was in the way of his treasure.

He pulled his hand out from under her shirt and made to tear it off when the door bell rang.

They both froze. Ranma quietly pulled away, but did not lift himself from Akane as they both craned their necks at the door when a loud chorus sounded from outside.

'Trick or treat!"

"Damn it!" Muscles stiffening, Ranma punched a hole through the wall next to them as his sexual frustrations reached a new limit.

Giving him a stern, yet apologetic look, Akane gently pushed him off her and grabbed the bowl of candy on the small stand next to the door. She opened the door, but was surprised to find that no one was there. Stepping outside, Akane looked to her right, then to her left, and gasped when she saw Ranma smirking at her through the hole he made.

"Ranma! You scared away all the trick or treaters, and now we're going to have to pay for that!"

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Nabiki can pay for it with the money she makes off of us, 'Kane, so relax!"

Akane scoffed and marched into the kitchen, ignoring Ranma as he stared after her, baffled.

"Y—You're not cooking again, are you?" he asked, uncertain and sounding ready to bolt.

Akane grunted in annoyance and grabbed a cup from the cupboard as Ranma followed her into the kitchen. "I'm just getting a glass of water, you jerk."

"Oh…"

And then there was silence. Akane frowned as she realized that silence with Ranma never occurred, especially recently, and it was making her feel uncomfortable.

"So…" Akane started, taking a sip of her water. "What was all that about?"

Ranma gave her a puzzled look. "All what about?"

Akane rolled her eyes. "The stairs! What's gotten into you?"

Ranma had the decency to blush, but it quickly faded as a smirk overruled his features and he pulled the tape out of his pocket.

"_This_ is what it was about," he said smugly.

Akane blushed upon sight of the tape. "So I guess you already know?"

Her answer was when Ranma was suddenly in front of her, kissing her like there was no tomorrow. Akane groaned and tried to bring him closer, but he pulled away at the sound of the door bell ringing.

"I'll get it…" he said huskily, and then he was whisked away by the calls of the children outside their house.

oOo

Saturday, October 31st 9:37 P.M.

"Boo!"

Ranma laughed loudly as Soun waved his hands wildly in the air and glared down at the monsters at their door. They screamed loudly at him, completely terrified, before snatching candy out of the bowl at Soun's feet and rushing back to their parents, who were waiting for them at the gate.

Soun gave a good hearted laugh as Genma, currently a panda, popped out of the snow and rolled around the ground, the kids' fear forgotten as they toppled on top of him.

The rest of the family had returned just as Soun arrived with the takeout. Luckily, Ranma thought bitterly, he bought just enough to feed the rest of the family.

Ranma retreated back to the dining room and plopped down in his seat next to Akane, who was adding some more sushi and rice to her plate. Nabiki mirrored her movements, but was also calculating some business Ranma didn't want to know about on her calculator. Nodoka left minutes earlier to awaken Kasumi, who hadn't eaten much because she was sleeping. When she came down, everyone wished her well and inquired her illness.

"Thank you, but I'm fine," Kasumi said sweetly before dumping almost half of the food onto her plate and practically drinking the miso soup. She looked surprised when everyone stared at her and placed a hand to her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh, my! I suppose I was hungrier than I thought!"

Chuckling, Ranma waited impatiently waited for Akane to finish her meal, poking her back every few minutes to demonstrate his eagerness to go somewhere private.

"Poke me again and I'll take even longer to eat," Akane scolded, smirking at him before adding more food to her plate. Ranma groaned and threw his hands up in exasperation as she giggled.

"Let's spar," Ranma blurted. He flinched, not knowing what he was saying, as long as it got the two of them alone. Akane gave him a surprised look before nodding enthusiastically.

They both went to her room to get changed into their gi's (Akane grabbed Ranma's clothes and threw them at him before shoving him out of the door), and met at the dojo, which was completely empty.

Sitting quietly, they bowed to the shrine on the wall before standing and bowing to each other. Then, Akane crouched into a defensive position, glaring at Ranma as he only blinked at her.

"Aren't you going to attack?" Akane said, her fingers twitching. "_You're _the one that wanted to spar, right? So attack me!"

Ranma responded by crouching into his own defense and motioned her towards him with two extended fingers. "You first."

Eyes narrowed, Akane shot for him, her arm pulling back and then rearing forward with a powerful punch that Ranma ducked before following up with a kick. Ranma narrowly avoided it as he sprang backwards, her foot nearly grazing his chin as he passed.

Akane rushed at him again, spinning in the air for a back kick when Ranma grabbed her foot and pushed it to the side, turning her body towards him and catching her at the waist. He pulled her tightly to him and pecked her forehead with a kiss before pushing her away, crouching to the ground, and spun, sticking out his leg and forcing Akaen to fall to the ground as she recovered from her small, sweet shock.

Akane landed with a small thump and was about to push herself back up when Ranma was suddenly above her, pinning her body down to the ground. He grinned at her.

'Got'cha'."

Grunting and pushing her lip out in a pout, Akane did whatever she could to get him off, but it was useless. His legs straddled either side of her hips and his hands held hers above her head in a position the Akane assumed that Ranma liked since he's been doing it so often.

"You didn't even take me seriously!" Akane said angrily.

Ranma nuzzled her cheek affectionately. "What do you mean? I always take you seriously."

"You didn't even hit me! I thought that we were actually going to _fight_ each other! A fight takes _two_ people, not _one_!"

Ranma smiled against the curve of her next. "I knocked you over, didn't I?"

Groaning in irritation, Akane turned her head away from him, opening her neck more to his adventurous lips as he chuckled and kissed the skin of her neck.

"I just wanted to get you alone for a while, is all, Akane," he said softly. Akane shivered as his warm breath cascaded over her neck and chest. "We haven't had that much time together."

"I want to be with you, too," Akane sighed. Suddenly, Akane felt her body become cold as Ranma pulled away and tugged at her gi top. Yelping, she slapped his hands away and pulled her top closer together on her body. "What're you doing?" she hissed, glancing at the door. "What if someone comes in here?"

"Everyone is either handing out candy or eating!" Ranma argued, loosening the tie to his sash. Akane blushed as she realized that his shirt was already off and he was working on his pants.

"Don't—" she whispered hurriedly as the knot to his sash became looser and looser. "Stop—"

"Don't stop?" Ranma mocked. His sash came untied and he slowly pulled it from around his waist and dropped it to the floor. He climbed over her again and gently pried her hands away from the cloth hiding her chest.

"Ranma, I don't—"

But Ranma pressed his forehead against hers and gave her a tender look that made her heart melt. "I won't hurt you," he said softly and kissing her lightly on her lips. They both sighed against each other. "I'll be gentle and go slowly. I promise."

Akane pressed her hand against his chest and pushed him away, avoiding his gaze as he gave her a confused and hurt look. "I know you will…" Akane started. She shook her head suddenly, not knowing how to go on with what she wanted to say to him.

"Then what's the problem?" he asked, pulling back and sitting on his haunches in front of her.

Akane sighed apologetically and gave him a wary look. "I—I'm sorry, Ranma, but—I gave it some thought, and…I want to wait until we're married…"

Akane couldn't tell if she should be frightened or amused when Ranma gave her a stony look.

"Until we're _married_?" Ranma said skeptically. "After all we just went through in the past week; what just went on earlier on the stairs—you want to _wait_ until we're married? Did all of that mean nothing to you?"

"It meant everything to me!" Akane protested. She averted her eyes when he gave her a harsh look. "I'm just scared about what will happen if someone finds us doing _that_ before we're married—I know our fathers will try to marry us again, but if Kasumi…" Akane trailed off and bit her lip.

Ranma couldn't help but bellow a laugh at the thought. "Kasumi? She's too nice; what d'you think she'd do, disown you or something?"

Ranma realized that this was quite the truth when Akane didn't answer. Eyes softening, Ranma stroked her cheek and smiled at her.

Akane smiled back and nuzzled into his hand. "I know she wouldn't do that, but…she's always been a very traditional person—if she found out that I was having sex before I was married than our relationship would change for the worse, and I don't want that to happen! It's the same with Nabiki, too! It would be too shameful to use any recordings or pictures to make some money; it'll ruin my family's reputation."

Ranma sighed and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling guilty. He rushed her into this and _frightened_ her into thinking that she'd have to destroy her family's image to please him; that was why she had reacted so strongly earlier this morning. Ranma tried to relate to her, but it was difficult because he and his family only had a reputation of thievery (at least, with his father), but Akane would have to live out the rest of her life seen as the Tendo family whore.

Ranma's eyebrows furrowed at his stupidity before he opened his eyes and pulled her towards him in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry I pressured you into this…" he whispered against her ear, berating himself in his head.

Akane pressed her hand against the back of his head to pull him closer. "It's not all your fault. If anything, I know the outfit I wore last night didn't help…"

Both of them paused as they remembered the events of the night before and blushed. Ranma pulled away and gently pushed Akane's body away from his lap.

"That little reminder didn't help, either, tomboy."

Akane giggled and kissed Ranma on the forehead before standing and bidding him a good night.

oOo

Saturday, October 31st 11:36 P.M.

"You still awake?"

"Yes."

"You should get some sleep."

Akane giggled. "You, too. Why're you still up?"

Ranma sighed and wrapped his arms tighter around his fiancée. When they were getting ready for sleep, Akane decided that it wouldn't be so bad if Ranma shared the same bed as her, so he moved up into her bed quickly and willingly. That was almost two hours ago. The rest of the family had turned off the porch light so no more trick or treaters would come to their door and went to bed, themselves.

"Just thinking, I suppose."

"About what?"

Ranma took in a deep breath and held it for several seconds before releasing through his mouth. "Everything…"

Akane, getting annoyed with his aloofness, smacked him on the chest. "Care to elaborate?"

He snorted at her and tousled her hair around playfully. "He's gone," Ranma stated.

Akane laughed before patting Ranma on the chest. "No, he's _right_ here," she said.

Ranma chuckled. "It's weird not having to make sure you're alone before entering a room anymore."

"You should be happy," Akane sighed.

"I am," he said. "Now I get you all to myself. Plus," he grinned at her, showing off his new, lengthened incisors, "I think my speed and agility increased because of my cat side."

Akane pouted at him. "So now it will take even longer for me to catch up to your level?"

Ranma glared sternly at her. "I'm not going to put you through the same training that I went through, Akane. It's too—"

"But what if Shampoo or Ukyo—" Akane interrupted, but Ranma cut her off.

"Cologne said that she'd try to get Shampoo out of our way."

Akane lifted her head. "Really?"

"Yeah...she sent a letter back to Joketsuzoku asking to annul the Kiss of Marriage, but it might take a while to get the answer back."

Akane's face saddened. "And what about Ukyo?"

Ranma stiffened. "Shampoo will be keeping an eye on her until she leaves to make sure Ukyo does nothing stupid."

Akane stared at her fiancée, giving him a worried look. "Is this really okay? Breaking off your relationship with her?"

"She tried to kill you, Akane," Ranma answered immediately. His hand flexed around her shoulder as he pulled her closer.

"Well, yeah—but—"

"—Maybe we can be friends again in the future," Ranma interrupted. He turned on his side and kissed Akane on the forehead before pulling the sheets up to her chin. "But you're the only girl I want to focus on right now."

Akane nodded and snuggled into the warmth of Ranma's chest, sighing. They both closed their eyes and lay their heads down on Akane's pillow, inhaling the others scent.

"Why were _you_ still up?" Ranma asked groggily.

Akane gave a jaw-cracking yawn before she answered. "Just wondering when P-chan will come home."

With a jolt of jealousy, Ranma clenched his fists into Akane's bedding and forced himself to sleep, his dreams filled with frightened pigs, roasting fires, and a scantily dressed Akane.

Feeling his muscles twitch around her, Akane giggled pecked the sleeping Ranma on the lips.

"Happy Halloween, Ranma," she whispered, before following him to an oblivion of complete and utter bliss.

* * *

It is COMPLETE! Phew, that took a REALLY long time. Well, the reason was because I COMPLETELY forgot what I had planned for Luan Ma before he left, so I just kind of improvised and decided that he'd might as well go and talk with Ukyo (I have nothing against Ukyo, by the way; she's one of the fun characters), and then there was the matter of ending it. It took me a while to figure out how I could have ended this story satisfactorily, but I think I almost achieved it.

Well, I'm certainly never going to do something like this again without severe planning and discipline. I'm such a terrible person, but if it took me five months to finish the LAST chapter of one story, than all my other ones are going to take me years to do, especially since I've taken a liking to the Dragon Ball series. Don't worry, I won't start writing fanfics about that anime, but watching all of the episodes is taking up a lot of my time, especially since I started from the way beginning :D

However, there is a joint story that I plan to co-write with DipuC, so heads up! And no, none of my other stories will EVER be abandoned, so don't worry, I'll finish them!

Review Please!

~Hannahkimi

P.S.- tomboy 26 commented on her confusion as to why Luan Ma was able to type on Nabiki's computer in the beginning of the chapter (since he's transparent and all and can't touch Akane). That was a mistake that I seemed to overlook, but I figured it'll just be under the same principle that Luan Ma can still stand on solid ground and not sink, or that he can sit on a chair and things like that, so I hope that this helps avoid confusion^^

Thanks!


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